Intermittent fasting doesn’t have edge for weight loss but mights stll work for some

Sydney: Intermittent fasting has become a buzzword in nutrition circles, with many people looking to it as a way to lose weight or improve their health.

But new research from the Cochrane Collaboration shows intermittent fasting is no more effective for weight loss than receiving traditional dietary advice or even doing nothing at all.

In this international review, researchers assessed 22 studies involving 1,995 adults who were classified as overweight (with a body mass index of 25–29.9 kg/m²) or obese (with a BMI of 30 kg/m² or above) to assess the effectiveness of intermittent fasting for up to 12 months.

The authors found, when compared to energy restricted dieting, intermittent fasting doesn’t seem to work for people who are overweight or obese and are trying to lose weight. However they note intermittent fasting may still be a reasonable option for some people.

Intermittent fasting is a tool for weight management, which includes three main strategies: alternate day fasting, where every second day is reduced to low or no energy intake periodic fasting or the 5:2 diet, where one or two days of the week are spent with low or no energy intake time-restricted eating or the 16:8 diet, where daily energy intake is reduced to a shorter window, usually between eight and ten waking hours. Alternate day fasting, for example, resulted in more weight loss when compared to time-restricted eating.

This is because participants who fasted every second day consumed about 20% less energy than those following time-restricted eating.

Cochrane review use gold-standard techniques to give an objective overview of the evidence. This review looked at 22 individual randomised controlled trials published between 2016 and 2024 from North America, Europe, China, Australia and South America.

The trials compared the outcomes of almost 2,000 adults who were classified as being overweight or obese. These participants either: received standard dietary advice, such as restricting calories or eating different types of foods practised intermittent fasting received either regular dietary advice, no intervention or were on a wait list.