Intermittent fasting no better than typical weight loss diets, study finds

"Intermittent fasting is no better for shedding the pounds than conventional diets and is barely more effective than doing nothing, according to a major review of the scientific evidence. Researchers analysed data from 22 global studies and found people who are overweight or living with obesity lost as much weight by following traditional dietary advice as when they tried fasting regimes such as the 5:2 diet popularised by the late Michael Mosley."

"Intermittent fasting, where people restrict their eating to set hours, or fast on certain days, has soared in popularity amid claims it can help people lose weight, boost their physical and cognitive health and even slow ageing. The Cochrane review used gold-standard techniques to analyse evidence from randomised clinical trials involving 1,995 adults across Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America."

"The approach was hardly better for weight loss than not dieting at all, the review adds, with people losing only about 3% of their body weight through fasting, far below the 5% that doctors consider clinically meaningful. The studies were all short term, looking at improvements over 12 months at most. Intermittent fasting is not a miracle solution, but it can be one option among several for weight management, said Dr Luis Garegnani, the lead author and director of the Cochrane Associate Centre at the Italian hospital of Buenos Aires in Argentina."

Data from 22 randomized clinical trials involving 1,995 adults across Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America show intermittent fasting produces about a 3% reduction in body weight over up to 12 months. That average weight loss is below the 5% threshold considered clinically meaningful. Different fasting approaches were examined, including alternate-day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating. Intermittent fasting appears to yield similar weight-loss results as conventional dietary advice and is not clearly superior or inferior. There is no strong evidence of greater improvements in quality of life with fasting. Intermittent fasting can be one option among several for weight management.

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