Eating at This Hour May Preserve Healthy Cognitive Function, Finds New Study

Research has previously shown that the foods we eat can help promote brain health. Now, a recent study points to the idea that when we eat may boost those effects even more. A team from Rutgers University set out to investigate a possible solution to existing research findings consistently showing that women and overweight individuals are more prone to dementia conditions like Alzheimer’s. As large segments of the population grow older and face age-related dementia, could some relatively simple lifestyle choices help manage risk? The study, published in July 2026 in the American Society for Nutrition’s Current Developments in Nutrition journal, involved 47 participants. Twenty-six participants were asked to consume all their food within a window of less than nine hours per day, with most eating between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The rest ate within a window of 12 hours per day. At a six-month check-in, participants across the board had lost an average of 15 pounds. However, there was a distinction between the two groups, as study principal investigator Sue Shapses, PhD, RD, DFASN, commented, “Reductions in the eating window predicted greater improvements” in cognition. Specifically, the time-restricted fasting set performed better on tests measuring memory, learning, spatial planning, and problem-solving. Dr. Shapses and her team plan to further investigate why such a shift occurred, looking at possible factors as sleep and circadian rhythm, inflammation, and nutrient absorption.