Research

Energy balance

Intermittent Energy Restriction (IER), including intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating, does not provide clear incremental benefit over Continuous Energy Restriction (CER) for weight loss or cardiometabolic health in humans.

Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating is not superior to simply eating fewer calories every day for weight loss or heart health. If you prefer fasting, it may help you restrict calories, but it offers no extra metabolic benefit over consistent daily calorie control. Choose the approach that fits your lifestyle and allows you to maintain a healthy diet.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
IER has largely shown no to minimal benefit above continuous energy restriction (CER) for weight loss and for cardiometabolic health in humans... no difference in weight loss and minimal to no differences in a variety of cardiometabolic parameters were found between the groups
Danielle Belardo et al. · American Journal of Preventive Cardiology · 2022

Why this rating

Based on multiple RCTs and analyses, though some small studies show mixed results.

Source

Practical, Evidence-Based Approaches to Nutritional Modifications to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: An American Society For Preventive Cardiology Clinical Practice Statement

Danielle Belardo et al. · American Journal of Preventive Cardiology · 2022

DOI 10.1016/j.ajpc.2022.100323

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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