Research

Energy balance

Intermittent Energy Restriction (IER) using a 5:2 diet pattern is equally effective as Continuous Energy Restriction (CER) for reducing body weight and blood pressure in overweight and obese patients with hypertension over a 6-month period.

If you have high blood pressure and are overweight, trying a 5:2 diet (eating very little, around 500-600 calories, on two non-consecutive days a week and eating normally the other five days) can lower your blood pressure and help you lose weight just as well as eating slightly less every single day. You should consult your doctor to adjust any blood pressure or diabetes medications, as your needs may change with weight loss.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The intention-to-treat analysis demonstrated that IER and CER are equally effective for weight loss and blood pressure control: the mean (SEM) weight change with IER was −7.0 [0.6] kg vs. −6.8 [0.6] kg with CER, the mean (SEM) systolic blood pressure with IER was −7 [0.7] mmHg vs. −7 [0.6] mmHg with CER, and the mean (SEM) diastolic blood pressure with IER was −6 [0.5] mmHg vs. −5 [0.5] mmHg with CER, (diet by time P = 0.62, 0.39, and 0.41, respectively).
Chao‐Jie He et al. · Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine · 2021

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial with 205 participants, though unblinded and with moderate dropout.

Source

Effects of Intermittent Compared With Continuous Energy Restriction on Blood Pressure Control in Overweight and Obese Patients With Hypertension

Chao‐Jie He et al. · Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine · 2021

DOI 10.3389/fcvm.2021.750714

rct · n=205Cited 13×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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