Time-restricted eating and gut microbiota alpha diversity in adults with overweight or obesity: an updated rapid systematic review.

Yibing Melody Zhai, Xinyu Liu, Zeyou Wang, Min Wang, Guangbin Tang, Yijie Liu, Hao Liang

Abstract readSystematic Review

In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Yibing Melody ZhaiDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Xinyu LiuDepartment of Oncology, Research Center of Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

Zeyou WangDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Min WangDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Guangbin TangResearch Center for Life Philosophy, Hunan Academy of Social Sciences, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Yijie LiuResearch Center for Life Philosophy, Hunan Academy of Social Sciences, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Hao LiangDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Time-restricted eating (TRE) is widely used for weight management, but its effect on gut microbiota alpha diversity in adults with overweight or obesity remains uncertain. Methods: We updated a rapid systematic review of intervention studies in adults with body mass index (BMI) of at least 25 kg/m Results: Nine reports included 517 participants with microbiome data (14-138 per study), including five randomized comparative reports ( Conclusion: Available evidence does not establish either a beneficial effect or an absence of effect of TRE on gut microbiota alpha diversity. Timing-specific differences are plausible but remain hypothesis-generating. Adequately powered trials should prespecify microbiome outcomes, retain early and late TRE as separate interventions, and report paired and between-group estimates with uncertainty.

Indexed as

alpha diversityGRADEgut microbiotaobesitysystematic reviewtime-restricted eating

Identifiers

PMID42780843

DOI10.3389/fnut.2026.1910444

PMCPMC13597893

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.