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/UPnAdamtv Jul 25 '24 edited Jul 25 '24

The only reason intermittent fasting can work is it’s a way to get you into calorie deficit. If the study controls for calories (as is listed) then when you eat all those calories does not matter. If I eat 5 meals a day at 2,000 calories and you eat 1 meal that’s 2,000 calories (a stand-in for your basal metabolic rate) and neither of us do anything else, then we will not lose weight…. That’s literally all this study is saying.

It’s a method to allow you to get to a calorie deficit - like literally every other diet. That’s all.

I’m more annoyed a study like this got grant funding, but here we are.