Study Finds That Low Calorie Diets Are More Effective than Intermittent Fasting

Study Finds That Low Calorie Diets Are More Effective than Intermittent Fasting
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A new study says that the quality as well as number of meals are far more important for weight loss than the time that passes between meals, meaning that the reduction of calories is more efficient than intermittent fasting if you want to drop some pounds.

The research’s findings have been published in the American Heart Association journal.

Wendy L. Bennett, the senior author of the study explains that although intermittent fasting is popular nowadays, rigorous studies are yet to really find whether or not limiting the eating window every day can help successfully control one’s weight.

The study included no less than 550 participants over the age of 18 who had at least one height and weight measurement registered in the couple of years before the study’s enrolment period which was between February and July of 2019.

The team created a special app named Daily24 for the participants to document their eating, sleeping and awake hours every day in real time.

During the first month, the app would send participants texts and notifications to encourage them to use it as much as possible.

The same thing also happened during the so-called “power weeks” – a week every month for the study’s 6-month intervention.

That being said, judging by the eating and sleeping recorded daily in the app, the team calculated the ideal intervals.

What they learned was that meal timing was not directly associated with weight change during the 6-year follow up period.

Instead, the large meals (over 1,000 calories) were linked to weight gain while the smaller meals (500-1,000 calories) were linked to losing weight.

Like Bennett also mentioned, even though previous research found that intermittent fasting can improve one’s metabolism, this particular study, which included a wider range of BMIs did not also identify this link.

While large scale clinical trials focusing on intermittent fasting and the long terms weight change effects are really difficult to conduct, even shorter term studies can be important for the future of weight loss recommendations.


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Katherine is just getting her start as a journalist. She attended a technical school while still in high school where she learned a variety of skills, from photography to nutrition. Her enthusiasm for both natural and human sciences is real so she particularly enjoys covering topics on medicine and the environment.

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