Intermittent Fasting Probably Won’t Lead to Weight Loss. Here’s Why

It seems like intermittent fasting would be a great weight loss strategy. You can’t eat during certain times of the day, and that might ultimately reduce your calorie intake, right? But despite all the hype surrounding intermittent fasting, new research suggests you could end up with the same results, whether you follow the eating strategy or do nothing at all.

The findings are a big deal, given just how many people swear by time-restricted eating. But they also highlight the glaring difference between the commentary swirling in pop culture about intermittent fasting and what the science actually says.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t lose weight on an intermittent fasting diet, as some people find it to be an incredibly effective approach to weight loss. But it does suggest that time-restricted eating alone is unlikely to help most people who are looking to shed weight.

If you’ve had success with intermittent fasting, then it’s a useful tool. But if you’ve been mulling over the eating schedule for weight loss, these findings are worth paying attention to. Here’s why.

The study analyzed a lot of dietary data.

The study, which was published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, analyzed evidence from 22 randomized clinical trials of nearly 2,000 adults in North America, Europe, China, Australia, and South America. The study featured trials that looked at different types of intermittent fasting, including alternate-day fasting and periodic fasting, which includes the 16:8 method of fasting for 16 hours with an eight-hour eating window. (Meaning, you’d start eating at 11 a.m. and stop at 7 p.m.) Most of the studies followed people for up to a year.

The researchers compared intermittent fasting with traditional diet advice (like calorie restriction) and with no changes in eating patterns. After crunching the data, the researchers found that intermittent fasting didn’t have a clinically meaningful impact on weight loss compared to standard diet advice or doing nothing.

“It may be effective for some people, but our findings suggest it was not any better than other approaches at weight loss,” Diane Rigassio Radler, PhD, study co-author and an associate professor of clinical nutrition at Rutgers University School of Health Related Professions, tells SELF.

Why might intermittent fasting be ineffective for weight loss?

While people can lose weight on an intermittent fasting diet, it’s not supported by robust science, Jessica Cording, RD, CDN, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers, tells SELF.