Journal of Applied Life Sciences International

Background: Time-restricted eating confines daily energy intake to a recurring eating window without necessarily prescribing foods or calories. It may reduce energy intake, align eating with circadian physiology, or both, but its added metabolic value beyond calorie restriction remains uncertain. Objective: To assess the effects and safety of time-restricted eating on body weight, glycaemic regulation, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, lipids, liver fat, inflammation and related metabolic outcomes in adults. Methods: Randomised comparative human studies published from 1 January 2000 to 30 June 2026 were sought through openly accessible PubMed-indexed and publisher pages, ClinicalTrials.gov, citation checking and exact-title or identifier verification; the final search was completed on 23 August 2026. One reviewer screened records, extracted data and applied outcome-focused RoB 2 principles. Studies were grouped by comparator and outcome, and findings were synthesised by direction, magnitude, precision, study size and risk of bias without statistical pooling. Results: Sixty-two records were captured, 19 duplicates were removed, 43 records were screened and 33 full reports were assessed. Twenty-nine reports representing 29 randomised studies were included. Against unrestricted or usual timing, time-restricted eating commonly produced modest weight loss when it reduced energy intake and sometimes improved HbA1c or continuous-glucose-monitoring measures. Against active calorie restriction, dietetic care or isocaloric feeding, additional weight and glycaemic benefits were generally small, absent or inconsistent. Small controlled-feeding studies suggested that early schedules can improve short-term glucose regulation and blood pressure without weight loss, but larger and longer trials did not establish consistent schedule-specific superiority. Liver fat improved mainly alongside weight loss, and inflammatory evidence was sparse. No consistent serious safety signal emerged, although harms ascertainment was incomplete. Conclusions: Time-restricted eating is a feasible dietary-timing option that may simplify energy reduction and produce modest metabolic improvement for some adults. Current evidence does not show that timing alone reliably outperforms matched calorie restriction or isocaloric eating. Certainty ranged from moderate for weight-related comparisons to low or very low for liver, inflammatory and safety outcomes.