Scientists doubt the effect of intermittent fasting: the results of the study are published

Research shows that intermittent fasting is just as beneficial as a traditional calorie-restricted diet when it comes to losing weight. According to the Daily Mail, people who ate all their calories for eight hours lost as much weight as those who counted calories but ate when they wanted to.

Intermittent fasting has grown in popularity in recent years, with celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Mark Wahlberg, Beyoncé, and Nicole Kidman being considered fans of the diet. Proponents of a time-limited diet claim that sticking to it is easier than meticulously counting calories.

The study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, evaluated 90 adults who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) eating with an eight-hour time limit only from noon to 8 pm; 2) calorie restriction with a 25 percent reduction in intake; 3) no change in calorie intake when eating more than ten hours or more during the day.

In the intermittent fasting group, no calories were counted and there were no clear dietary restrictions. Both groups met regularly with a nutritionist.

Participants who followed the time-limited diet ate 425 fewer calories per day than the control group and lost about 10 pounds more than the control group after one year.

The calorie-restricted group, who ate when they wanted, consumed 405 fewer calories per day and lost about 12 pounds more in one year compared to the control group.

Participants demonstrated high adherence to both approaches and reported no adverse side effects from either approach.

“Time Restricted Eating (TRE) has become a popular method of losing weight,” says nutritionist and study lead author Shuhao Lin. “The sudden rise in popularity of TRE is most likely due to its sheer simplicity and the fact that you don’t have to count calories to lose weight.”

Timed eating, also known as intermittent fasting, involves switching between days of fasting and days of normal eating, the Daily Mail explains. They generally fall into two categories: time-limited eating that reduces meal times to 6-8 hours a day, also known as the 16:8 diet, and the 5:2 intermittent fasting.

Dieters fast for 16 hours a day, and the remaining eight hours they eat whatever they want – usually from 10 am to 6 pm.

This may be more tolerable than the well-known 5:2 diet, in which followers limit their calorie intake to 500-600 per day for two days a week and then eat normally for the remaining five days.

In addition to weight loss, 16:8 intermittent fasting is thought to improve blood sugar control, improve brain function, and help us live longer.

Many people choose to eat from noon to 8pm as that means they only have to fast all night and skip breakfast, but they can still eat lunch and dinner, as well as a few snacks.

The disadvantages of the fasting plan may be that people overeat during the hours they can eat, which leads to weight gain, the Daily Mail notes.

It can also lead to digestive problems in the long run, as well as hunger, fatigue, and weakness.

This isn’t the first study to suggest that intermittent fasting may not fit the ad campaign. For example, a February study in mice by Mount Sinai researchers found that intermittent fasting led to a drop in disease-fighting white blood cells by as much as 90 percent. This increases the risk of infection, heart disease and cancer.

In addition, a study published last August found that Americans over 40 who ate once a day were 30 percent more likely to die from any cause within 15 years than those who ate three times a day.

However, the researchers in this new study believe the findings could be a step in the right direction for intermittent fasting.

“The data show that when obese people limit food intake to 6-8 hours a day, they naturally reduce their energy intake by 350-500 calories,” says Shuhao Lin. “From a clinical point of view, these results are of paramount importance.”

The specialist said that one of the reasons why people abandon the traditional diet is the frustration with daily calorie counting.

However, a time-limited diet “could circumvent this requirement by allowing participants to simply ‘look at the clock’ instead of keeping track of calorie intake, and at the same time promote weight loss and improve cardiometabolic health measures.”

Therefore, this can lead to people sticking to the diet for longer periods of time, providing long-term weight control in those who are overweight or obese.

The authors of the accompanying editorial from the Center for Health and Wellness and the Department of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine say the intermittent fasting group likely consumed fewer calories because they had access to a dietitian who helped them choose more healthy food.

They emphasize that the results of this study highlight the significant individual variability in weight loss with these intermittent fasts and calorie counting, and that further research is needed to determine who would benefit the most from each of these interventions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 73 percent of US adults are overweight and 40 percent are obese.