Intermittent fasting is a special kind of eating habit where people eat for at certain regular intervals. This way of eating has become increasingly popular over the last few years. It is especially popular among people to lose weight. The basic idea behind intermittent fasting is it can help you to expend more energy and burn more calories than you consume. It is thought that people can lose weight through intermittent fasting without putting in too much effort.
However, a clinical trial has found that intermittent fasting doesn’t actually increase weight loss. This clinical trial result was published in JAMA Internal Medicine. This randomized clinical trial reveals that you won’t lose much more weight compared to the weight you’ll lose when sticking to a three-meals-a-day diet.
116 overweight and obese men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 participated in this study. These study participants were split into two groups. One group of people took a normally structured three meals diet per day. On the other hand, another group of people eats what they needed between 12:00 and 20:00. They fasted for the rest of the time and were only allowed noncaloric drinks. At the end of the study, researchers measure their weight as well as other health indicators like fat and lean mass, insulin levels, glucose, and blood sugar.
But researchers found no significant difference between the groups when it came to the measured metabolic markers. So, the researchers believe that easy and straightforward weight loss can be achieved with a healthy lifestyle.