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Intermittent fasting might not be as healthy as some thought.
A new study on the subject was published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal overseen by the American Medical Association, and it suggests that a time-restricting diet is not necessarily the best weight loss strategy.
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The study was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Hawai’i Cancer Center. After looking at the weight loss results of 116 adults who were considered “overweight” or “obese,” it was determined that intermittent fasting did not produce “significantly different” results from people who ate their meals at typical intervals.
People who practice intermittent fasting abstain from eating for certain hours during the day. Some dieters don’t eat for 24 hours, while others prefer to go for a large calorie deficit, according to Healthline.
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Proponents of the diet have claimed that intermittent fasting is a superior weight loss method or may contribute to a longer life, but the UCSF and UHCC researchers found that some of the participants who practiced the diet experienced a significant amount of loss of muscle mass.
“Loss of lean mass during weight loss generally accounts for 20% to 30% of total weight loss,” the study indicated. “The proportion of lean mass loss in this study (approximately 65%) far exceeds the normal range of 20% to 30% … Finally, the degree of lean mass loss during weight loss has been positively correlated with weight regain “.
Intermittent fasting involves abstaining from food for a set number of hours during the day. (iStock)
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Despite the caveat, the study noted that more research is needed with close monitoring of participants’ protein intake. The researchers observed all 116 participants for just 12 weeks.
Overall, those who practiced intermittent fasting throughout the study lost half a pound more than those who didn’t restrict their eating hours.
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“Time-restricted eating, in the absence of other interventions, is no more effective for weight loss than eating throughout the day,” the study concluded.
