Laut Studie ist intermittierendes Fasten nicht besser als typische Diäten zur Gewichtsabnahme. Forscher sagen, dass begrenzte Ernährungsansätze wie die 5:2-Diät keine „Wunderlösung“ seien, da sie immer beliebter werden.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/feb/16/intermittent-fasting-no-better-than-typical-weight-loss-diet-study-finds
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**Intermittent fasting no better than typical weight loss diets, study finds**
**Researchers say limited eating approaches such as 5:2 diet not a ‘miracle solution’ amid surge in their popularity**
Intermittent fasting is no better for shedding the pounds than conventional diets and is barely more effective than doing nothing, according to a major review of the scientific evidence.
Researchers analysed data from 22 global studies and found people who are overweight or living with obesity lost as much weight by following traditional dietary advice as when they tried fasting regimes such as the 5:2 diet popularised by the late Michael Mosley.
The approach was hardly better for weight loss than not dieting at all, the review adds, with people losing only about 3% of their body weight through fasting, far below the 5% that doctors consider clinically meaningful. The studies were all short term, looking at improvements over 12 months at most.
“Intermittent fasting is not a miracle solution, but it can be one option among several for weight management,” said Dr Luis Garegnani, the lead author and director of the Cochrane Associate Centre at the Italian hospital of Buenos Aires in Argentina. “Intermittent fasting likely yields results similar to traditional dietary approaches for weight loss. It doesn’t appear clearly better, but it’s not worse either.”
Intermittent fasting, where people restrict their eating to set hours, or fast on certain days, has soared in popularity amid claims it can help people lose weight, boost their physical and cognitive health and even slow ageing.
The Cochrane review used gold-standard techniques to analyse evidence from randomised clinical trials involving 1,995 adults across Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America. The trials examined different kinds of intermittent fasting, such as fasting every other day, the 5:2 diet where people fast for two days a week, and time-restricted eating.
Beyond the minimal benefits for weight loss, the researchers found no strong evidence that intermittent fasting improved people’s quality of life more than other diets.
For those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015610.pub2/full
I mean I get these results, but this diet often works for people as they cut out evening snacking. Intermittent fasting without a caloric intake change of course would not yield positive results, as you’re controlling for the one factor that makes this diet effective
Lot easier and more pleasant to adhere to
Eat less.
There’s your diet.
Everything else is really just ignoring the fundamental physics of the situation. If you only eat 1kg of food, you can only put 1kg of weight on, absolute maximum.
If you then lower that, you’ll find a point where you don’t put weight on.
If you lower still, you’ll find a point where you lose weight.
Ta da! Magic.
And it barely matters WHAT you’re eating (though of course some foods will make you gain/maintain more weight than others, that effect is comparatively TINY to… just eating less).
Eat less, and make sure you’re eating the necessary elements, and you’re done. Not losing weight? Eat less than that.
The tiny number of people who would then get to malnutrition before they started to lose weight absolutely 100% will require quite serious medical intervention and diet management anyway, as well as likely pills, medicines, treatments, surgeries.
But most people? Can just eat less than they do. They can still eat EXACTLY the same thing if that want. Just less of it.
There is no magic diet where physics is involved. Not against the stupendous complexity and variability of gut flora, genetic predisposition, digestive issues, cooking variability, etc. etc. etc.
Hardly surprising all diets are calories in – calories out, any differences are rounding errors especially in the long run.
Some diets e.g. heavy carb restriction can cause „rapid weight loss“ but really only in the first 2 weeks or so during which you lose glycogen and the tons of water that hold it. But beyond that it doesn’t matter.
Beyond that the actual effectiveness is then limited to what diets people stick to, and this varies greatly on the person.
They don’t need to be faster. Just easier to adhere too.
Most people’s issues with weight loss isn’t time, but consistency.
i feel like intermittent fasting was not about weight loss but health first.
the idea was that having 5 meals a day was making pancreas working all the time to manage insulin.
People use intermittent fasting for more than just weight control though. In fasting periods the body goes through autophagy which some clinical testing demonstrates can remove waste products from the body and aid in cancer prevention, as well as assist in other bodily system regulation.
If this is just a weight control thing, sure, the headline is correct, but I think that severly undersells what people use it for.
You’re missing the point — any reasonably healthy diet that someone can stick to will help them lose weight.
It’s the „can stick to“ that is the magic bit, and that’s different for each person.
The best approach: eat smaller portions but more often. It works wonders.
The most difficult part of this? Our lifestyle. And self restraint
I think this is actually good news – all diets work, bringing calories down to a level where you maintain a healthy weight is the target. Now how you get depends on your individual lifestyle and preferences, if low carb is what makes it stick long term for you, go for it. If stopping eating after lunch works for you, do that. All the available diet plans, try the and see. Whatever works for you. Having options is a good thing – takes the mystery out of losing weight, there are no magical fixes, but you have options, try them and see what sticks.
My results with IF were that it worked great for a few months, then I slowly started eating more in my feeding window and gained the weight back. The best part imo was that it saved time not making a meal. Even now I kind of do a modified 16:8 on weekdays. Protein shake and fruit at 11am, lunch at 1-2 pm, dinner at 6pm. I find that eating like that also helps keep my energy up.
I lost 80 pounds so far with it. For me, especially being a night shift worker, it’s an easy way to track exactly how much I’m actually eating through the day. It also has an effect on your hunger response, you go from “I’m hungry so I need to eat now” to “ this feeling tells me that I’m ready to eat when it’s time”, then you stuff your face and feel fine afterwards.
I’m not fasting I just have ADHD
Fad diet is a fad. More at 11.
If it works for people, great. I think it’s popular because it’s easy to grasp and makes sense to people. Anything you can add an evolutionary psychology explanation to always does well as it is marketable. It has an air of being ‚the way we are supposed to live‘ which sits nicely with everyone’s underlying suspicion that the modern world is corrupt and conspiring to make them fat and sick – It’s not their fault they are unhealthy and overweight, it’s society’s… A bit of cognitive dissonance goes a long way in sufficiently protecting the ego enough for a diet like this to make sense as an answer to the disconnect between how people see themselves and how they appear.
Well, yeah, it is still calories in vs calories out.
The difference is that these sorts of diets are much easier for many people to effectively adhere to. I myself have always had trouble dieting, the numbers eventually tire my brain or I find loopholes, especially when I’m also a powerlifter and end up in this middle ground where I need insane calories to develop but also not become a fat ass. My sister is the opposite and revels in numbers; she tried fasting and was quickly driven insane by it.
For me personally I found that fasting on days when I’m not in the gym is perfect. I’m still building muscle because I slam everything into my face after heavy sessions but fasting days then lets me modulate everything.
There’s also other benefits associated to fasting outside of weight loss, and there is a non-zero chance my success at muscle building and overall health is aided by it.
Ok, it seems nutritionists still haven’t figured out this simple thing: one has to find the kind of weight loss diet that fits their lifestyle and they can adhere to. This “one method fits all, just have five small meals a day and you’re good” approach that nutritionists tried to sell me… screw that.
Decades ago, keto worked miracles for me and was relatively easy to adhere to. These days, I simply can’t do keto any more, maybe because of menopause, who knows (and who cares, I know that nutritionists don’t). I find intermittent fasting easier for the time being.
I never heard it becoming popular for weight loss, but for all the health benefits it provides..
If you check on r/gallbladders more than a few people have said IF has given them gallstones. The gallbladder holds extra bile and when you don’t eat, it doesn’t dump the bile and when your gallbladder doesn’t dump the bile at an appropriate rate, it can cause gallstones. I used to do IF and I had gallstones which resulted in me getting my gallbladder removed. Post op I was constantly feeling sick and my sister had to tell me what I was feeling was actually hunger! I had completely forgotten what it felt like to be hungry after doing IF for years. I do not recommend.
The human body evolved through most of history with irregular eating patterns, and we lived through times of feasting and famine.
Annecdotal of course, but i combined fasting with a keto diet and it was the easiest weight i ever lost. For me, it’s way easier to eat nothing at all, than to eat just a little. Also, once fat-adapted, the hunger i felt was somehow different than usual, and less intense.
I would be curious about how the studies were conducted, and if people were self-reporting and what fasting protocol they were using. I did three 42-hour fasts a week, ate keto when i did eat, and lifted heavy daily. Would need to fast less during shark week, but that is the case for many women.
Intermittent fasting is 16-8. I’ve never heard of 5-2
Has anyone actually said it’s „better“?
To me, it’s a matter of what works for the individual. For me, fasting in the evening not only limits my daily calories, also helps with acid reflux.
I never expected it to be better, but something I can actually adhere to.
It’s a great way to lose weight without having to deal with a bunch of loose skin afterwards so there’s that…
Weight loss isn’t generally a physical issue. Everyone knows that less calories in = weight loss.
Its a psychological one. And finding the way that helps you drown out that incessant nag of your hormones telling you to eat constantly is what is actually needed. This is why GLP1s are such a wonder drug.
If intermittent fasting helps by reducing the time you have to listen to the nag to just evenings, then great.