Research

Hormonal

Intermittent energy restriction (IER) improves intermediate disease markers, specifically triacylglycerols and systolic blood pressure, compared to a usual diet, but has no effect on LDL-cholesterol, fasting glucose, or HbA1c.

Beyond weight loss, IER can improve blood pressure and triglyceride levels. However, it does not significantly affect LDL cholesterol, fasting glucose, or HbA1c compared to a usual diet. If you have diabetes, consult a doctor as some studies reported hypoglycemia.

ModerateQualifiesLOW confidence
IER in comparison to a usual diet may reduce... triacylglycerols (MD: −0.20 mmol/L... n = 5) and systolic blood pressure (MD: −6.11 mmHg... n = 5). No effects were observed for LDL-cholesterol, fasting glucose, and glycosylated-hemoglobin.
Lukas Schwingshackl et al. · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · 2020

Why this rating

Based on 5-6 RCTs, but certainty of evidence is rated 'low' for triglycerides and 'moderate' for blood pressure.

Source

Impact of intermittent energy restriction on anthropometric outcomes and intermediate disease markers in patients with overweight and obesity: systematic review and meta-analyses

Lukas Schwingshackl et al. · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · 2020

DOI 10.1080/10408398.2020.1757616

Meta-analysis · 17 studiesCited 52×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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