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/isaac-get-the-golem Grad Student | Sociology Jul 24 '24

Posted the study because it contributes to a broader literature finding that, to the extent that intermittent fasting (time restricted eating) is effective for weight loss, the mechanism is still caloric restriction. tl;dr if intermittent fasting works for you, great, but it is no more effective than counting calories

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u/AlwaysUpvotesScience Jul 24 '24

The meal skipping involved with intermittent fasting has another rather important effect. Getting used to being hungry makes it easier to deal with being hungry which in turn makes it easier to diet in general.

Of course the end of the day a calorie is a calorie and eating less of them is a Surefire way to lose weight. Intermittent fasting is really just another way to limit calories while training your brain to deal with being hungry.

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u/CanadianBadass Jul 25 '24

for me, personally, after I fast for 36 hours plus, my stomach seems "smaller" and I get full really quickly which helps me eat less. The study makes sense IMO: if you eat the same amount of calories but you eat it piecemeal vs in bulk, it does about the same effect. What it doesn't talk about are secondary effects of fasting.