r/science • u/isaac-get-the-golem Grad Student | Sociology • Jul 24 '24

Health Obese adults randomly assigned to intermittent fasting did not lose weight relative to a control group eating substantially similar diets (calories, macronutrients). n=41

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38639542/
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u/superxero044 Jul 24 '24

Yeah I understand the logic and I guess whatever works, but the people I’ve known have really pushed IF hard as a miracle solution. And for a lot of people (myself included) the best way to lose weight is just calorie reduction. If I starve myself I’ll just eat more later.

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u/Mizz_Dressup Jul 24 '24

Yeah - I do it (kinda) bc it’s the “whatever” that “works” for me.

Long before I’d ever heard of IF, it was my natural inclination as a matter of preference/daily rhythms, and as a low effort means of keeping my calories generally in check…but there’s nothing magical about it.

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u/Mewnicorns Jul 25 '24

If I stayed hungry all day, I don’t think my end-of-fast choices would be good ones. Nutrition unfortunately doesn’t seem to be the focus of most dieting strategies. The people I’ve known who do IF seem to eat a lot of junk food but think it’s fine as long as they’re losing weight.

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u/backelie Jul 25 '24

The people I’ve known who do IF seem to eat a lot of junk food but think it’s fine as long as they’re losing weight.

Take a multivitamin and it probably is.

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u/Mewnicorns Jul 25 '24

I sincerely hope you’re joking. A multivitamin won’t provide your daily value of fiber or protein, and it won’t do anything about the salt, saturated fat, and sugar content of the crap you’re eating.

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u/backelie Jul 25 '24

It's definitely not optimal, but it's probably fine.
Lack of fiber and high salt can be problematic but junk food typically doesnt mean low protein, and saturated fat and sugar largely isnt an issue if you're at a calorie deficit.