Intermittent fasting has been hailed as the ultimate shortcut to better health. By narrowing the hours of eating rather than obsessing over calories or food groups, its advocates promised a pathway to weight loss, metabolic balance, and even longevity. The appeal was obvious: skip breakfast, eat in a compressed window, and let biology do the heavy lifting. It fit neatly into the rhythm of modern life, where simplicity often trumps sustainability. But new evidence has thrown a spanner into this narrative.

For the first time, large-scale, long-term data tracking of thousands of adults suggests that restricting eating to less than eight hours a day may not be as benign as once thought. In fact, the findings indicate a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular mortality among those who stuck to such narrow eating windows, even after accounting for diet quality, lifestyle factors, and existing health conditions. The revelation........

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