Effects of Four Weeks of Alternate-Day Fasting with or Without Protein Supplementation-A Randomized Controlled Trial
Pang BWJ, Yang Y, Rashiqah N, Huang CB, Sim DW
Nutrients · 0 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- Nanyang Technological University
- University or hospital
- National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University
- University or hospital
- Physical Education and Sports Science Final Year Project Fund for consumables
Based on 3 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2025-11-25 · Nutrients · vol. 17 · issue 23 · p. 3691
- Publisher
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
- Cited
- 0 citations · more than 34% of similar papers · 0.0× the field average
- References
- 41 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Dietary Effects on Health · Diet and metabolism studies · Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Keywords
- Bioelectrical impedance analysis, Randomized controlled trial, Weight loss, Whey protein, Blood pressure, Intermittent fasting, Fat mass, Body weight
- MeSH
- humans, obesity, weight loss, blood glucose, dietary proteins, body mass index, fasting, body composition, blood pressure, dietary supplements, adult, male, young adult, whey proteins
5 authors
From SG
- Benedict Wei Jun PangNanyang Technological University; Geriatric Education and Research Institute
- Yifan Yang · correspondingNanyang Technological University
- Nur RashiqahNanyang Technological University
- Christopher HuangNanyang Technological University
- D. W. SimNanyang Technological University
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Long-term alternate-day fasting (ADF) effectively combats obesity, but its short-term effects are less clear. Like other diets, ADF-induced weight loss often includes muscle loss, and whether protein supplementation mitigates this is uncertain. This study examined the effects of short-term ADF on body composition and health and whether protein supplementation preserves muscle mass during weight loss in young Asian men with an unhealthy BMI (≥23.0 kg/m2). Methods: Twenty participants were recruited for a single-arm trial to address the first objective, and twenty-six participants were randomly assigned to a control (C) or protein group (P) in a follow-up trial to address the second objective. The participants alternated between feeding (ad libitum) and fasting (400-600 kcal consumed between 12 and 2 PM) days for four weeks. The participants in P consumed 25 g of whey protein as part of the fasting-day meal. Pre-post body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Anthropometry, fasting blood glucose (FG), and resting blood pressure (BP) were measured weekly. Results: Since interaction effects were absent, data from all three groups were combined for analyses. Four weeks of ADF significantly (p p = 0.753-0.919). No significant differences were detected between the C and P groups for any of the measures. Conclusions: Short-term ADF effectively reduced body and fat mass, but it also reduced muscle mass, and this reduction was not attenuated by low-dose protein supplementation (25 g) during fasting days. Future studies should explore the effectiveness of protein or leucine supplementation, throughout the feeding and fasting days, in terms of preserving muscle during weight loss.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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