CHICAGO, IL-HealthDay reports, “Intermittent fasting seems to yield little to no difference in weight loss or quality of life for adults with overweight or obesity, according to a review.” Investigators “found that intermittent fasting may result in little to no difference in percentage from baseline weight loss compared with regular dietary advice.” Although “the evidence was very uncertain…intermittent fasting may have little to no effect on achieving a 5% reduction in body weight, little to no difference in quality of life, and little to no effect on adverse events.”
The findings were published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Here are the conclusions for the study:
Authors’ conclusions
Compared to regular dietary advice, intermittent fasting may result in little to no difference in weight loss or quality of life. Intermittent fasting may result in little to no difference in adverse events, but the evidence is very uncertain. These approaches did not differ in achieving weight loss, producing no clinically meaningful changes in most of the outcomes considered in this review. Compared to no intervention or waiting list, intermittent fasting likely results in little to no difference in weight loss and may result in little to no difference in quality of life or adverse events, but the evidence is very uncertain.
Physicians and patients may need to evaluate willingness and readiness to implement intermittent fasting as a treatment strategy, based on individual practicality and sustainability.
The included studies focused on short‐term effects of the intervention (up to 12 months), limiting the applicability of the evidence in this review to inform decision‐making for longer durations. It would be beneficial for future studies to extend follow‐up periods beyond 12 months to build a stronger evidence base for the long‐term effects.
Further research is needed to address the effect of intermittent fasting on several outcomes, including participant satisfaction, diabetes status and overall measures of comorbidities. These studies must consider different populations where obesity and overweight have different burdens, like those from low‐ and middle‐income countries and high‐income countries, men or women separately, and different body mass index categories. ~ Luis I Garegnani, Gisela Oltra, Diego Ivaldi, Mariana Andrea Burgos, Paola J Andrenacci, Sabrina Rico, Melinda Boyd, Diane Radler, Camila Micaela Escobar Liquitay, Eva Madrid
Media Release/AMA Morning Rounds
