A meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of alternate day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating for weight loss
Elortegui Pascual P, Rolands MR, Eldridge AL, Kassis A, Mainardi F, Lê KA, Karagounis LG, Gut P, Varady KA
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 81 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Industry funded
- Authors
- At least one author declares a financial tie to industry
Based on full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2022-11-08 · Obesity (Silver Spring) · vol. 31 · issue S1 · pp. 9–21
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Cited
- 136 citations · more than 99% of similar papers · 12.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 56 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY-NC-ND
- Research areas
- Dietary Effects on Health · Enhanced Recovery After Surgery · Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Keywords
- Weight loss, Medicine, Intermittent fasting, Randomized controlled trial, Meta-analysis, Population, Body weight, Animal science, Weight change, Internal medicine, Obesity, Biology, Environmental health
- MeSH
- humans, obesity, weight loss, caloric restriction, diet, reducing, fasting
9 authors
From CH, US
- Paloma Elortegui Pascual · correspondingNestlé (Switzerland)
- Maryann R. RolandsNestlé (Switzerland)
- Alison L. EldridgeNestlé (Switzerland)
- Amira Nemr Kassis
- Fabio MainardiNestlé (Switzerland)
- Kim‐Anne LêNestlé (Switzerland)
Abstract
Objective
The objective of this meta-analysis was to compare the effectiveness of different intermittent fasting (IF) regimens on weight loss, in the general population, and compare these to traditional caloric energy restriction (CER).
Methods
Three databases were searched from 2011 to June 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed weight loss and IF, including alternate day fasting (ADF), the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating (TRE). A random effect network analysis was used to compare the effectiveness between the three regimens. Meta-regression analysis was presented as weighted mean differences of body weight loss.
Results
The exploratory random effects network analysis of 24 RCTs (n = 1768) ranked ADF as the most effective, followed by CER and TRE. The meta-analysis showed that IF regimens resulted in similar weight loss to CER (mean difference 0.26 kg, 95% CI: -0.31 to 0.84; p = 0.37). Compliance was generally high (>80%) in trials shorter than 3 months.
Conclusions
The present meta-analysis concludes that IF is comparable to CER and a promising alternative for weight loss. Among the three regimens, ADF showed the highest effectiveness for weight loss, followed by CER and TRE. Further well-powered RCTs with longer durations of intervention are required to draw solid conclusions.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-ND).
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