Intermittent fasting has recently become a conversation about the world of weight loss, gained countless followers and is called as a simple weight loss plan that can help even those who have struggled to lose weight in the past. However, a new study suggests that it can be more than just pounds you lose when you adopt an intermittent fixed plan.
According to a study published in the journal Scientific translational medicine On June 16, 2021, researchers who participated in intermittent fasting during a control trial actually lost fewer pounds than those who followed a diet that did not include time-limited eating. Even more surprisingly, perhaps this was true even if adherents to both diets consumed the same number of total calories.
To reach their conclusion, researchers from the University of Baths Center for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism had participants in the study divided into three groups: group one fasted on alternate days and ate 50% more than usual the day after a fast, group two reduced the total number calories they consumed by 25% over meals without fasting, and group three fasted every other day, but ate 100% more than usual the day after their fast day. All groups consumed between 2,000 and 2,500 calories at the beginning of the three-week study period, with groups one and two reducing their total caloric intake to between 1,500 and 2,000 calories per day, and group three fasting but not reducing their total caloric intake.
RELATED: 20 best foods to eat while intermittently fasting
Researchers found that individuals in group two shed just over four pounds on average over a three-week period, almost all of which were fat loss. Group one, which consumed the same number of calories as group two, but which contained fasting, lost slightly less weight – 3.5 pounds on average – but the pounds lost were about half fat, half muscle mass. Among the third group, the total weight loss was not significant.
“Intermittent fasting is not a magic bullet and the results of our experiment suggest that there is nothing special about fasting compared to more traditional, common diets that people can follow,” said James Betts, MD, lead author of the study and director of the Center for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism, said in a statement.
In addition, Betts explained that the loss of muscle mass can make it more difficult for individuals to stay physically active or maintain their muscle mass, which burns more calories at rest than fat mass. So while sticking to an intermittent fixed plan can help you shed a few pounds, that weight loss can cost your other health and fitness goals.
For some easy ways to lose those extra pounds, check out how making this change in your diet can “reprogram” your metabolism, say new studies, and for more health and weight loss news sent to your inbox, Sign up for our newsletter!
