Research
Energy balance
Intermittent energy restriction results in greater weight loss than continuous energy restriction, though statistical equivalence was not met in this trial.
While both diets reduce weight, the intermittent diet (2 days of very low calories) led to slightly more weight loss on average (-6.8 kg vs -5.0 kg) in this study. However, the difference was not statistically proven to be superior, so individual results may vary.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Mean (SEM) weight change was similar between the continuous and intermittent energy restriction groups (–5.0 [0.8] kg vs –6.8 [0.8] kg; P = .25), but the between-group difference did not meet the criteria for equivalence (–1.8 kg; 90% CI, –3.7 to 0.07 kg)
Why this rating
Same trial as N1; high internal validity but inconclusive for superiority due to sample size/power.
Source
Effect of Intermittent Compared With Continuous Energy Restricted Diet on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Sharayah Carter et al. · JAMA Network Open · 2018
DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.0756
rct · n=137Cited 287×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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