Intermittent fasting, a trend embraced by many celebrities and millions of people looking to lose weight, may not be more effective than traditional diets, according to a large scientific review.
Scientists from the Cochrane Institute, considered the gold standard of evidence-based medicine, analyzed data from 22 studies involving nearly 2,000 adults, mostly overweight or obese. Participants followed either intermittent fasting or classic methods like calorie restriction. The conclusion was clear: eating only during certain hours of the day did not lead to greater weight loss compared to standard diets – or even compared to doing nothing.
Over 12 months, people who practiced intermittent fasting lost an average of about 3 percent of their body weight, below the 5 percent threshold that doctors consider clinically significant. The difference compared to regular diets was minimal and not statistically significant.
Researchers suggest that one possible reason is that followers of this regimen often consume the same number of calories as others or do less physical activity. Although proponents claim that fasting burns fat, increases energy and even extends life, concerns have grown in recent years, as some studies have linked it to a higher risk of colon cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Luis Garegnani of the Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, who led the review, said that intermittent fasting “does not appear to work for overweight or obese adults who want to lose weight.”
Intermittent fasting involves restricting food intake to certain hours (like the 2:10 plan) or certain days of the week (like the 5:14 diet). It became popular in the 2010s, after figures like Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg spoke publicly about its use. Today, it is estimated that about one in ten Americans follows the diet.
The study comes at a time when overweight and obesity are on the rise. According to the World Health Organization, obesity in adults has tripled since 1975; by 2022, 2.5 billion adults were overweight and 890 million of them obese.
The authors stressed that the quality of the evidence was low, as many studies on intermittent fasting are short-term and have poor methodology. For this reason, larger, longer-term studies are needed for definitive conclusions. Dr. Eva Madrid from the Cochrane Evidence Synthesis Unit Iberoamerica said that, with the current evidence, recommendations should be made on a case-by-case basis.
These findings are consistent with another analysis led by Harvard researchers, published in the British Medical Journal, which reviewed 99 studies and concluded that the benefits of intermittent fasting are “trivial” compared with regular calorie-restricted diets. Only alternate-day fasting showed slightly more weight loss, but not enough to be considered clinically significant.
Essentially, current evidence suggests that intermittent fasting may help compared to not following any diet, but offers no real advantage over basic, sustainable calorie control methods. /GazetaExpress/
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