Cochrane Review: Intermittent Fasting No Edge for Weight Loss

A new systematic review by the Cochrane Collaboration has concluded that intermittent fasting offers no significant advantage for weight loss compared to traditional dietary advice or even no intervention at all among overweight or obese adults. The analysis, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, examined 22 randomized controlled trials involving 1,995 participants from North America, Europe, China, Australia and South America, conducted between 2016 and 2024.

The studies focused on adults with a body mass index between 25 and 29.9 for overweight individuals or 30 and above for those with obesity. Interventions lasted between six and 12 months and included various intermittent fasting approaches, such as alternate-day fasting, where participants fast for 24 hours every other day; time-restricted eating, like the 16:8 method with 16 hours of fasting followed by an eight-hour eating window; and periodic fasting, such as the 5:2 diet with five days of normal eating and two days of restricted calories.

Researchers found that intermittent fasting led to similar weight loss outcomes as receiving guidance from dietitians or trained professionals on energy-restricted...