Safety of alternate day fasting and effect on disordered eating behaviors
Hoddy KK, Kroeger CM, Trepanowski JF, Barnosky AR, Bhutani S, Varady KA
Nutrition journal · 54 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
Based on full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2015-05-05 · Nutr J · vol. 14 · issue 1 · p. 44
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Cited
- 84 citations · more than 88% of similar papers · 2.4× the field average
- References
- 12 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Dietary Effects on Health · Enhanced Recovery After Surgery · Diet and metabolism studies
- Keywords
- Medicine, Intermittent fasting, Binge eating, Weight loss, Constipation, Adverse effect, Depression (economics), Internal medicine, Clinical nutrition, Eating disorders, Weakness, Obesity, Psychiatry, Surgery
- MeSH
- humans, dizziness, body weight, weight loss, constipation, body mass index, diet, reducing, fasting, feeding behavior, depression, body image, energy intake, adult, aged, middle aged, female, male, feeding and eating disorders
6 authors
From US
- Kristin K. HoddyUniversity of Illinois Chicago
- Cynthia M. KroegerUniversity of Illinois Chicago
- John F. TrepanowskiUniversity of Illinois Chicago
- Adrienne BarnoskyUniversity of Illinois Chicago
- Surabhi BhutaniUniversity of Illinois Chicago
- Krista A Varady · correspondingUniversity of Illinois Chicago
Abstract
Background
Alternate day fasting (ADF; ad libitum intake "feed day" alternated with 75% restriction "fast day"), is effective for weight loss, but the safety of the diet has been questioned. Accordingly, this study examined occurrences of adverse events and eating disorder symptoms during ADF.
Findings
Obese subjects (n = 59) participated in an 8-week ADF protocol where food was provided on the fast day. Body weight decreased (P < 0.0001) by 4.2 ± 0.3%. Some subjects reported constipation (17%), water retention (2%), dizziness (<20%), and general weakness (<15%). Bad breath doubled from baseline (14%) to post-treatment (29%), though not significantly. Depression and binge eating decreased (P < 0.01) with ADF. Purgative behavior and fear of fatness remained unchanged. ADF helped subjects increase (P < 0.01) restrictive eating and improve (P < 0.01) body image perception.
Conclusions
Therefore, ADF produces minimal adverse outcomes, and has either benign or beneficial effects on eating disorder symptoms.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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