THE ESSENTIAL
- Intermittent fasting for 10 weeks allowed study participants to lose up to 3% of their body mass.
- Fasting also reduced oxidative stress and insulin resistance.
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Consisting of a complete calorie restriction during a defined period, fasting is an effective means of “detoxifying” the body. Several studies have shown its health benefits : it not only allows the body to eliminate toxins and bad fats, but it also promotes prevention of certain diseases like diabetes, while protecting the liver.
In a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (United States), are interested in the virtues of intermittent fasting, which alternates periods of restrictions and normal feeding periods, on weight loss.
Two modes of intermittent fasting were compared: a time-limited diet of 4 hours and another of 6 hours. “It is the first human clinical trial to compare the effects of two popular forms of time-limited diets on body weight and cardiometabolic risk factors ”, says nutrition professor and study co-author Krista Varady.
A loss of 3% of their body mass
As part of the study, participants in the time-limited diet 4 hours were invited to eat only between 1 and 5 pm. Those following the intermittent 6-hour fast could eat only between 1 and 7 p.m.
In both groups, participants were allowed to eat whatever they wanted and only had to drink water or calorie-free drinks. Participants in a control group were asked to maintain their weight and not change their diet or level of physical activity.
During the 10 weeks of the experiment, the volunteers were followed on their weight. The researchers measured their insulin resistance, their oxidative stress, their blood pressure, their LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers.
The results showed that in the two groups of volunteers practicing intermittent fasting, the participants reduced their caloric intake by approximately 550 calories each day and lost approximately 3% of their body mass. The researchers also found that insulin resistance and oxidative stress levels were reduced in study group participants compared to the control group. However, they did not notice any effect on blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides.
There was also no significant difference in terms of weight loss or cardiometabolic risk factors between the two groups having practiced intermittent fasting.
“The results of this study are promising and reinforce what we have seen in other studies: fasting diets are a viable option for people who want to lose weight, especially those who do not want to count calories or who find other diets tiring, says Professor Varady. It is also revealing that there has been no additional benefit in terms of weight loss for people who have followed a longer fast. Until we have other studies that directly compare the two regimes or that seek to study the optimal time for fasting, these results suggest that the 6-hour fast might make sense for most people who want to follow a daily fasting regimen. ”
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