2026-02-19 16:17:07

Intermittent fasting may not cause weight loss.

In the most comprehensive review to date, scientists from the Cochrane Institute – considered the “gold standard” for evidence-based medicine – found the fashionable eating plan was no better than traditional calorie-cutting.

Researchers analysed 22 studies involving nearly 2,000 overweight or obese adults from Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America.

Overall, intermittent fasters lost around three per cent of their body weight within 12 months – below the five per cent threshold doctors consider clinically meaningful.

Dr Luis Garegnani, who led the review, said: “Intermittent fasting just doesn’t seem to work for overweight or obese adults trying to lose weight.”

Compared to standard dieting methods, intermittent fasting led to just 0.33 per cent more weight loss – a difference researchers said was not statistically significant.

And while fasters lost 3.42 per cent more body weight than those doing nothing, experts concluded it was still no better than basic calorie restriction.

The findings follow a separate 2025 Harvard-led review of 99 trials involving more than 6,500 adults, which found the benefits of fasting were “trivial” compared to standard diet plans.

Researchers wrote: “Minor differences were noted between some intermittent fasting diets and continuous energy restriction, with some benefit for an alternate day fasting strategy with weight loss in shorter duration trials.”

Alternate-day fasting saw people lose an average of 2.84lbs more – but that still fell short of the 4.4lb minimum considered clinically significant.

Intermittent fasting – including the 14:10 and 5:2 plans – soared in popularity after celebrities such as actress Jennifer Aniston, 57, and actor Mark Wahlberg, 54, publicly backed it. Today, around one in 10 Americans follow the regime.

But Dr Eva Madrid warned: “With the current evidence available, it’s hard to make a general recommendation.

“Doctors will need to take a case-by-case approach when advising an overweight adult on losing weight.”

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