Intermittent fasting, one of the most popular dietary trends of the last decade, may not be an effective strategy for weight loss, according to new data published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.[1]
“Questions remain about the potential benefits of time‐restricted eating patterns, especially the challenges with maintaining this eating behavior,” wrote lead author Di Zhao, PhD, an associate scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues. “Observational studies are better suited to evaluate long‐term changes, but no population‐based studies have been specifically designed to evaluate the association between meal intervals and changes in weight over time.”
Hoping to learn more, Zhao et al. followed nearly 540 adult participants for an average follow-up time of more than six years. Participants came from one of three health systems in the United States, and each participant tracked details about their eating schedules and sleep schedules using a custom-designed smartphone app.
Overall, the authors found no evidence that intermittent fasting improved a person’s body rhythms, regulated metabolism or directly led to weight loss. Participants represented a wide range of body types and body weights.
The total number of large meals or medium meals eaten over the course of the day, however, was associated with improved weight loss. Reducing total calorie intake was also linked to consistent weight loss over the study’s long-term follow-up period.
The group did note that their research had certain limitations, including the fact that 77.9% of participants were women and 77.5% were white. Also, the study was not designed to thoroughly evaluate cause and effect, which means many questions still remain about why certain eating habits can help lead to weight loss and others do not.
“Our findings did not support the use of time‐restricted eating as a strategy for long‐term weight loss,” the authors concluded. “Further large‐scale studies with long follow‐up time are needed to better characterize the association for time of eating with weight change.”
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Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.