Intermittent fasting has been promoted by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Jack Dorsey, but a new study found the diet is not as effective as you might think.
Fasting for hours in the hopes of losing weight? Experts say it's all nonsense.
A study published Thursday in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine found that the buzzy intermittent-fasting trend is no more effective than traditional calorie counting, putting an end to the celebrity-backed fad championed by Jennifer Aniston, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and, of course, Goop queen Gwyneth Paltrow.
Researchers discovered that intermittent fasting — or time-restricted eating for up to 18 hours in order to lose weight — did not result in any more weight loss for obese people than daily calorie caps.
"A regimen of time-restricted eating was not more beneficial in terms of body weight, body fat, or metabolic risk factors than daily calorie restriction," the researchers wrote.
It's not the first time intermittent fasting, in which dieters skip meals and eat only within a 6- or 8-hour window, has been slammed as a diet fail. In a 2020 study, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco discovered that, when compared to people who ate normally, people who fasted lost only a half-pound more in 12 weeks.
For the latest study, researchers from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, followed 139 obese patients for 12 months, giving them some calorie restriction as well as time-restricted eating — only between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. — or others just daily calorie restriction. Both groups were told to eat a well-balanced diet of 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day for men and 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day for women.
While both groups lost weight (about 14 to 18 pounds on average), the difference between the time-restricted and calorie-counting subjects was not significant. Furthermore, there was little difference in BMI, waist circumference, body fat, or metabolic risk factors.
"At the 12-month assessment, weight changes were not significantly different in the two groups," the authors wrote.
Intermittent fasting practices vary, but many plans involve not eating for up to 18 hours per day. "It's a wolf in sheep's clothing," Tammy Beasley, a registered dietitian, told The Washington Post. "I wish intermittent fasting came with a warning label."
While there has been some positive but mixed research on intermittent fasting in terms of longevity or type 2 diabetes patients, many people who have tried the popularized diet have criticized it for nearly ruining their lives and causing debilitating eating disorders.
Tammy Beasley, a registered dietitian, told The Washington Post last year about her ordeal with the diet, which led to severe anorexia and orthorexia, or an obsessive focus on eating healthily.
"It's a wolf in sheep's clothing," said Beasley. "I wish intermittent fasting came with a warning label."
Center for Discovery, an eating disorder treatment clinic, agreed, warning that fasting can be effective, but it has drawbacks.
"Yes, it is possible to lose calories, fat, and weight while following this popular diet," wrote the nationwide clinic. "However, if the fasting is extreme, it is possible to quickly gain the weight back, develop low energy stores, which can result in a depressed mood, have sleeping problems, and even develop organ damage."
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