The 8-hour intermittent fasting feeding window is not based on systematic comparison but on data collection constraints.

“Reminds me of how most studies of intermittent fasting are based on a 6-8hr feeding window b/c of a 8-10hr workday for the graduate student doing the early studies whose girlfriend wanted him home for dinner.”

“the significant other of the graduate student and or postdoc, I won't reveal who they were running. This study forbid their significant other, the scientist from being in the lab for periods of time, that were much longer than the 10 or 12 hours that were required in order to ensure this eight hour feeding window. So when we hear the eight hour feeding windows are holy, they are not holy and later, we are going to talk about how eating for a time that's restricted to eight hours versus 10 hours versus 12 hours. For instance, how that impacts various parameters like health parameters and weight loss, et cetera. But the eight hour feeding window was actually created because of a real world constraint on the research and the relationship with the researcher performing the research, not because there's anything holy about an eight hour feeding window”

“And so it was eight hours of feeding window, plus some measurements and time to walk into the lab, park the car, et cetera. And so the eight-hour feeding window that everyone holds so holy was actually just born out of this relationship between these two graduate students.”

“So we're like eight-hour intermittent fasting thing, there's a story behind that because actually I spoke to Satchin, and it turns out that the graduate student in his lab did that initial study, which was on mice, by the way, was limited to being in lab for about eight hours by their significant other.”

“That the reason that the eating period in these studies-- in animals and now on humans is 8 hours, the feeding window in these studies is because the graduate student was going to, otherwise, lose their relationship.”