TL;DR
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In a randomized trial of 187 adults with obesity, an eight-hour eating window combined with supervised exercise led to greater weight and body-fat loss over 12 weeks than standard care. The study found no greater overall reduction in liver fat, and the weight and body-composition differences were no longer detectable one year later.
A randomized trial of 187 adults with obesity found that combining an eight-hour daily eating window with supervised exercise led to greater weight and body-fat loss over 12 weeks than standard care. The combination did not produce a greater overall reduction in liver fat, the study’s primary focus, and the weight and body-composition differences were no longer detectable at a one-year follow-up.
The TEMPUS trial assigned participants to one of four groups: standard care, intermittent fasting, supervised exercise, or fasting combined with exercise. All participants received education on the Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Those in the fasting groups ate within an eight-hour window each day, while exercise groups completed a supervised program combining strength training and high-intensity aerobic exercise.
Liver fat decreased across all four groups, but researchers found no statistically significant difference between any intervention and standard care, or among the three intervention groups. Participants who fasted, with or without exercise, lost about 2.2 kilograms more on average than those receiving standard care. The fasting-and-exercise group also lost more body fat than the standard-care and exercise-only groups.
Both exercise groups improved cardiorespiratory fitness, a measure related to cardiovascular health. Among participants who had fatty liver at the start, about 30% in the combined group no longer met the study’s diagnostic criteria after the intervention, compared with 6.5% in standard care. At one year, however, the groups no longer differed in liver fat, and earlier differences in weight and body composition were no longer detectable.
Short-Term Gains, Limited Durability
The findings suggest that pairing time-restricted eating with structured exercise can affect more than scale weight over a short intervention: the combined approach was associated with greater body-fat loss, while exercise was associated with improved cardiorespiratory fitness. Those outcomes matter because the trial assessed several aspects of health, not just weight.
But the results do not show that this approach reduces liver fat more than standard care overall, despite that being the study’s primary objective. Nor do they establish that short-term changes will last without ongoing support: the measured weight and body-composition differences had faded by one year. The results point to a need to study how people can maintain changes after a structured program ends, rather than treating a 12-week result as a lasting outcome.
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How the TEMPUS Trial Was Set Up
The research was led by the PROFITH research group at the University of Granada’s Joint University Institute for Sport and Health, in collaboration with Granada biomedical and clinical research organizations. The study was part of the TEMPUS project and was published in Nature Communications as a randomized controlled trial. It included approximately equal numbers of women and men.
Researchers used MRI to measure liver fat and also examined body weight, body composition and fitness. The four-group design allowed the team to compare fasting and exercise separately as well as in combination, against standard care. All groups received diet and activity education, so the comparisons reflect the added approaches rather than a contrast with no guidance.
The study also reported exploratory results by sex. Among men, the combined intervention was associated with a greater reduction in liver fat than standard care; this difference was not observed among women. Co-lead author Alba Camacho Cardeñosa cautioned that these analyses do not establish that the intervention works differently by sex.
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Long-Term Effects Remain Unresolved
The trial does not show whether the short-term benefits could be maintained with continued fasting, exercise, or other support. At the one-year follow-up, between-group differences in weight, body composition and liver fat were not found; the supplied report does not specify whether participants continued the assigned routines during that period.
The overall analysis found no significant liver-fat advantage, while the apparent benefit among men came from subgroup analysis and cannot establish a different response by sex. The report also does not provide enough detail here to determine how results may vary by participants’ starting levels of liver fat or how readily the supervised exercise program could be replicated outside the trial.
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Further Trials Must Test Maintenance
The researchers say longer interventions should be studied, particularly among people with high liver-fat levels, alongside strategies designed to help maintain benefits. The available report does not announce a specific next trial or a date for further results. Until longer-term evidence is available, the findings describe outcomes from a defined 12-week program and its one-year follow-up, not a guarantee of lasting weight loss.
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Key Questions
How many people took part in the trial?
The trial included 187 adults with obesity, approximately half of them women. Participants were randomly assigned to standard care, fasting, supervised exercise, or fasting combined with exercise.
What did the study mean by intermittent fasting?
Participants in the fasting groups concentrated their meals within an eight-hour window each day. The study also provided education on the Mediterranean diet and physical activity to all four groups.
Did fasting and exercise reduce liver fat more than standard care?
Not in the overall trial comparison. Liver fat decreased in every group, but researchers found no statistically significant difference between the interventions and standard care. A subgroup result among men does not establish a different effect by sex.
Did the benefits last a year?
The study found no between-group differences in liver-fat changes at one year, and the weight and body-composition differences seen after 12 weeks were no longer detectable. The report does not establish what would happen with continued support or a longer intervention.
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