Intermittent fasting is not like other diet plans, in that it doesn’t set strict standards or regulations on which foods you can eat. You determine which foods, and how much of them, you eat during your specific eating windows. As a general recommendation, though, it is always better to eat healthy, whether your goal is weight loss or long-term health.
Intermittent fasting is far from new, but it has been more prevalent over the past decade. This eating pattern promises big results, including weight loss, increased metabolism, and even a longer life. According to a brand new Cochrane review, those claims may be inconsistent. The review compared intermittent fasting with regular dietary advice, no dietary intervention, or men and women with obesity. As it turns out, intermittent fasting may result in little to no difference in percentage from baseline weight loss when compared to regular dietary advice.
A Quick Refresher Of Types Of Intermittent Fasting
Before we delve deeper into the Cochrane review’s findings, let us give a quick recap about what intermittent fasting means. The review looked at three main approaches to the eating pattern:
- The 5:2 diet: People on this plan typically eat normally for five days a week and significantly cut calories (about 500-600) for two non-consecutive days (like Thursday and Sunday).
- Alternate-day fasting: An eating pattern that calls for eating normally one day, and then eating very little (or nothing at all) the next day. Rinse and repeat.
- Time-restricted eating: The most common model of this is the 16:8 ratio, which means that you fast for 16 hours and eat during an eight-hour window each day. If your first meal is at noon, you finish dinner by eight at night and do not eat until noon the next day.
What Did The Review Find?
A Cochrane review is a high-standard, systematic review of healthcare research. It analyzes available data and evidence on diets, medical treatments, diagnostics, and other related topics. Basically, researchers look at all of the available quality research to put a review together.
In the case of the recent review, researchers looked at 22 studies with about 2,000 people from around the world. They tested all three types of the intermittent fasting patterns we detailed earlier. Researchers noted that intermittent fasting did not lead to meaningful weight loss when compared to regular dietary advice. That said, there are a few things worth noting before you give up on intermittent fasting altogether.
- Most of the studies examined in the review were relatively short. That means that they don’t know what happens if you stick to an intermittent fasting plan for years. Some research on meal timing suggests that when you eat might matter for other aspects of health, not just weight loss.
- The people observed in the studies were not super diverse. Most of the participants were white adults in wealthy countries, meaning these findings may not apply to everyone.
- Side effects were plentiful, with some studies tracking them and others not paying attention to them. That means that there are missing pieces to the puzzle.
- The bottom line is that intermittent fasting is likely not harmful, but it may not be the weight loss miracle you’ve been searching for.
Why Does It Feel Like Intermittent Fasting Works?
If fasting helps, or has helped, you feel better, that is real. Even if the scale doesn’t budge, here is why it might click for some people:
- It is very simple because you don’t have to worry about macros, micros, or meal prep math. Just watch the clock and eat during your eating window, but make sure to understand how long to wait between meals, as timing can be beneficial to digestive function.
- You end up eating less without trying very hard. Fewer hours to eat typically means fewer calories ingested, but keep in mind that you can still go overboard depending on what you eat.
- Everybody is different, so something that works for you may not work for your friend, and vice versa.
Intermittent fasting is not magic, so don’t force it upon yourself if it isn’t working for you. Consider this article a permission slip to try something new. Have you considered the 20-day Full Body Cleanse? It is a fully detailed program that can help you hit the reset button on your health, all while helping you lose weight in the process, provided the body has weight to lose. Find what works for you and give it a shot!
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
