The impact of intermittent fasting on gut microbiota: a systematic review of human studies
Paukkonen I, Törrönen EN, Lok J, Schwab U, El-Nezami H
Frontiers in nutrition · 36 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
- Systematic review (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Mechanisms only
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- Itä-Suomen Yliopisto
- Government
- Academy of Finland
- Grants
- Academy of Finland (355462)
Based on 2 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2024-02-11 · Front Nutr · vol. 11 · p. 1342787
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media
- Cited
- 55 citations · more than 97% of similar papers · 4.6× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 80 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Dietary Effects on Health · Gut microbiota and health · Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Keywords
- Gut flora, Microbiome, Cochrane Library, Systematic review, Species richness, Intermittent fasting, Overweight, Human studies, Alpha diversity, Obesity, Biology, Psychological intervention, Randomized controlled trial, Medicine, Bioinformatics, MEDLINE, Ecology, Immunology, Internal medicine
5 authors
From FI, HK
- Isa PaukkonenUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Elli-Noora TörrönenUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Johnson LokUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Ursula SchwabUniversity of Eastern Finland; Kuopio University Hospital
- Hani S El-Nezami · correspondingUniversity of Eastern Finland; University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Background
Intermittent fasting (IF) has gained popularity in interventions targeting overweight, obesity and metabolic syndrome. IF may affect the gut microbiome composition and therefore have various effects on gut microbiome mediated functions in humans. Research on the effects of IF on human gut microbiome is limited. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to determine how different types of IF affect the human gut microbiome.
Methods
A literature search was conducted for studies investigating the association of different types of IF and gut microbiota richness, alpha and beta diversity, and composition in human subjects. Databases included Cochrane Library (RRID:SCR_013000), PubMed (RRID:SCR_004846), Scopus (RRID:SCR_022559) and Web of Science (RRID:SCR_022706). A total of 1,332 studies were retrieved, of which 940 remained after removing duplicates. Ultimately, a total of 8 studies were included in the review. The included studies were randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies and pilot studies implementing an IF intervention (time-restricted eating, alternate day fasting or 5:2 diet) in healthy subjects or subjects with any disease.
Results
Most studies found an association between IF and gut microbiota richness, diversity and compositional changes. There was heterogeneity in the results, and bacteria which were found to be statistically significantly affected by IF varied widely depending on the study.
Conclusion
The findings in this systematic review suggest that IF influences gut microbiota. It seems possible that IF can improve richness and alpha diversity. Due to the substantial heterogeneity of the results, more research is required to validate these findings and clarify whether the compositional changes might be beneficial to human health.
Systematic review registration
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42021241619.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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