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Eating meals within a shorter period each day may provide modest cognitive benefits for older women trying to lose weight, according to results from a small clinical trial.

The study involved 47 women between the ages of 50 and 79 who were overweight or obese. All participants were advised to reduce their daily food intake by 500 calories, but about half were also instructed to consume their food within a window of less than nine hours a day.

Those participants generally ate between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., giving them an average daily eating window of 8.2 hours. The other participants continued eating over a more typical period, averaging 12.3 hours.

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The impact on cognition

After six months, women in both groups had lost an average of about 15 pounds. However, the women following the shorter eating schedule performed better on tests measuring spatial planning and problem-solving.

They also tended to make fewer errors on memory and learning tests, although that difference did not reach the level researchers consider statistically significant. The shorter eating window did not produce a significant advantage in tests of reaction time or multitasking.

“There was a modest effect of time-restricted eating to improve spatial planning and problem-solving and on reducing errors related to memory and learning,” said Sue Shapses, the study’s principal investigator and a professor at Rutgers University and Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Shapses said the results could translate into a better ability to remember information and avoid mistakes during everyday tasks involving memory, attention, and problem-solving. Women who reduced their eating window the most generally showed greater improvements.

The researchers said weight loss itself may help reduce some age-related cognitive decline. The findings suggest that eating within eight or nine hours — and stopping about four hours before bedtime — could potentially provide an additional benefit.

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The study does not prove dementia prevention

Despite the encouraging results, the study does not establish that time-restricted eating prevents Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. It was a small pilot trial involving only women with overweight or obesity, and it lasted six months.

The researchers did not measure whether participants developed dementia. Instead, they evaluated changes in performance on several cognitive tests. That means the findings should not be interpreted as proof that a shorter eating window will reduce a person’s long-term dementia risk.

Larger and longer studies involving a more diverse group of adults will be needed to confirm the results.

Researchers also plan to examine why time-restricted eating might affect the brain. Possible explanations include changes in the body’s internal clock, inflammation, metabolism, and the biological systems that respond to nutrients.

The results are scheduled to be presented at NUTRITION 2026, the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting, July 25–28 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Older adults interested in trying time-restricted eating should first talk with a healthcare professional, particularly if they have diabetes, take medications that must be taken with food, are underweight, or have other medical conditions that could make prolonged fasting unsafe.