Research
Energy balance
Intermittent fasting (IF) regimens produce weight loss results statistically similar to traditional Caloric Energy Restriction (CER).
You can achieve the same amount of weight loss with intermittent fasting as you can with standard calorie counting. Choose the method that you can stick to long-term.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
The meta-analysis showed that IF regimens resulted in similar weight loss to CER (mean difference 0.26 kg, 95% CI: –0.31 to 0.84; p = 0.37).
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of 24 RCTs.
Source
A meta‐analysis comparing the effectiveness of alternate day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time‐restricted eating for weight loss
Paloma Elortegui Pascual et al. · Obesity · 2022
DOI 10.1002/oby.23568
Meta-analysis · 24 studiesCited 129×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Alternate day fasting (ADF) and modified ADF (MADF) are the most effective intermittent fasting regimens for weight loss, ranking higher than caloric energy restriction (CER) and time-restricted eating (TRE).Good
- Adherence to intermittent fasting regimens is generally high (>80%) in short-term studies (≤3 months) but drops significantly in long-term studies (>3 months).Good
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