Intermittent fasting is a popular meal time schedule that cycles between voluntary fasting in a given period. The research for humans suggest that this way of time restricted eating limits snacking and lowers insulin and glucose and reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, promotes weight loss, promotes cardiovascular health and lowers triglycerides and can even reduce the risk of cancer.
Is restricting diet also helpful for dogs?
According to this feeding study published in the National Library of Medicine, 48 Labrador Retrievers were paired and studied throughout their entire lives and "1 dog in each pair was fed 25% less food than its pair-mate from 8 weeks of age until death." Routine blood tests were completed each year until 12 years of age to measure body composition.
"Compared with control dogs, food-restricted dogs weighed less and had lower body fat content and lower serum triglycerides, triiodothyronine, insulin, and glucose concentrations. Median life span was significantly longer for dogs in which food was restricted. The onset of clinical signs of chronic disease generally was delayed for food-restricted dogs."
Just by feeding less, average lifespans were longer and delayed disease. Of course this is a very small study, but I do believe how much you feed, what you feed and when you feed can all contribute to optimal health or sickness. If you want to learn more about what Bobzilla recommends for optimal nutrition, click here.