Geschatte leestijd: 2 minutenAlternate-day fasting could be as effective as a normal diet with daily calorie restriction for weight loss. That’s the outcome of recent research from the University of Illinois.
Alternate-day Fasting
Dieting regimens that involve alternating periods of fasting and non-fasting are gaining popularity. Alternate-day fasting is a popular form of this “intermittent fasting.”
There are various theoretical benefits of these diets, but often, they are compared to a diet without calorie deficit. This raises the question of whether these benefits were due to the calorie deficit itself or the alternating nature of the deficit on different days.
This makes the recent research from the University of Illinois intriguing. In a clinical trial, they examined the effects of alternate-day fasting on weight and other indicators of potential cardiovascular issues. This was compared to a normal diet where, over a two-day period, the total calorie deficit was the same. The findings were published in JAMA Internal Medicine [1].
One hundred overweight individuals were divided into three groups:
- Alternate-day fasting. One day at 25% of total calorie needs (‘fast day’), the other day at 125% (‘feast day’). Averaging 75% per day.
- 75% of calorie needs every day
- No diet
After a year, weight loss in the ‘alternate-day group’ (6%) was not significantly different from the group on a normal diet (5.3%).
“The results of this randomized clinical trial demonstrated that alternate-day fasting did not produce superior adherence, weight loss, weight maintenance or improvements in risk indicators for cardiovascular disease compared with daily calorie restriction,”
Intermittent Fasting
I actually want to use these latest findings as a lead-in to a separate article on intermittent fasting. Alternate-day fasting can be done in many different ways. Every other day is popular, but fasting for 2 days and eating for 5 days is also common. There are also many variations possible in the amounts eaten on fasting and feast days. So, I will quickly write a separate article that explores multiple studies on various methods of intermittent fasting.
As mentioned, many of these studies, however, look at the effects of alternate fasting without comparing it to a normal diet that provides the same total calorie deficit.
Although the researchers in this case report that alternate-day fasting is not better than normal dieting, it appears that it can yield the same positive effects. If you find it easier to fast one day and eat more the next, then alternate-day fasting could be a solution. Provided you implement this theory effectively, of course. That means ensuring an appropriate maximum calorie deficit. There’s no point in eating 50% of your needs one day and 200% the next. That would still result in excess intake overall.
Reference
- John F. Trepanowski, Cynthia M. Kroeger, Adrienne Barnosky, Monica C. Klempel, Surabhi Bhutani, Kristin K. Hoddy, Kelsey Gabel, Sally Freels, Joseph Rigdon, Jennifer Rood, Eric Ravussin, Krista A. Varady. Effect of Alternate-Day Fasting on Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, and Cardioprotection Among Metabolically Healthy Obese Adults. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2017; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.0936
