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Healthful Living / 368 - Intermittent fasting no better than typical weight loss diets
« Last post by Curt on Today at 11:18:24 AM »368 - Intermittent fasting no better than typical weight loss diets, study finds
Ian Sample Science editor, The Guardian, Mon 16 Feb 2026
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/feb/16/intermittent-fasting-no-better-than-typical-weight-loss-diet-study-finds
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 trials examined different kinds of intermittent fasting, such as fasting every other day, the 5:2 diet where people fast for two days a week, and time-restricted eating.
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.
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.
Dr Zhila Semnani-Azad at the National University of Singapore, said the benefits of intermittent fasting may be affected by timing, since the body’s circadian rhythms are so deeply connected to metabolism. Studies in animals suggest fasting can change how fat reserves are used, improve insulin sensitivity – which is important for diabetes – and reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. It may also be good for ageing and longevity, she said, by triggering a process called autophagy, the body’s recycling mechanism. One problem is that there is no universal definition of intermittent fasting, making it hard to understand its effects, she added.
Maik Pietzner, a professor of health data modelling at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, was surprised that weight loss from fasting was so small compared with doing nothing. ......
The findings also line up with his own work that shows short periods of complete fasting, even up to two days, has little effect on our bodies and that people need to fast for much longer to see changes that may drive benefits later on. In one of his studies, people consumed only water for seven days, but widespread changes to proteins in their blood only occurred after three days.
Ian Sample Science editor, The Guardian, Mon 16 Feb 2026
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/feb/16/intermittent-fasting-no-better-than-typical-weight-loss-diet-study-finds
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 trials examined different kinds of intermittent fasting, such as fasting every other day, the 5:2 diet where people fast for two days a week, and time-restricted eating.
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.
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.
Dr Zhila Semnani-Azad at the National University of Singapore, said the benefits of intermittent fasting may be affected by timing, since the body’s circadian rhythms are so deeply connected to metabolism. Studies in animals suggest fasting can change how fat reserves are used, improve insulin sensitivity – which is important for diabetes – and reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. It may also be good for ageing and longevity, she said, by triggering a process called autophagy, the body’s recycling mechanism. One problem is that there is no universal definition of intermittent fasting, making it hard to understand its effects, she added.
Maik Pietzner, a professor of health data modelling at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, was surprised that weight loss from fasting was so small compared with doing nothing. ......
The findings also line up with his own work that shows short periods of complete fasting, even up to two days, has little effect on our bodies and that people need to fast for much longer to see changes that may drive benefits later on. In one of his studies, people consumed only water for seven days, but widespread changes to proteins in their blood only occurred after three days.