Research

Hormonal

Intermittent fasting during Ramadan significantly improves insulin sensitivity and reduces insulin resistance in healthy young men, independent of changes in fasting plasma glucose.

For healthy young men, observing Ramadan-style intermittent fasting (sunrise to sunset) for about a month can improve how your body handles insulin, even if your fasting blood sugar numbers don't change. This benefit comes from reduced insulin levels and weight loss, provided you maintain your usual activity level.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Our results demonstrate that fasting during Ramadan decreases the concentration of HDL-c without any significant changes in total cholesterol, TG, and LDL-c levels... The results of the present study also demonstrate that intermittent fasting during Ramadan may lead to concomitant beneficial effects by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing insulin resistance.
Guntari Prasetya et al. · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · 2018

Why this rating

Single-arm observational study with no control group and small sample size (n=27).

Source

Intermittent Fasting During Ramadan Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Anthropometric Parameters in Healthy Young Muslim Men

Guntari Prasetya et al. · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · 2018

DOI 10.1177/1559827618815430

crossover · n=27Cited 26×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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