Adelaide University Group Leader of Obesity and Metabolism Professor Leonie Heilbronn<\/a> says the Cochrane review findings were similar to dozens of similar meta-analyses of this topic \u2014 that intermittent fasting produces similar weight loss to other moderate calorie restriction interventions of around 7% after 6-12 months, with far better weight loss results for other weight loss methods such as very low calorie diet (10-15%), pharmacotherapy (15-20%) or surgery (>20%).<\/p>\nHowever, she says a limitation of this latest study is that it should not have incorporated different types of intermittent fasting into the one review and did not consider wider health benefits beyond weight loss.<\/p>\n
![\"Intermittent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_2144570281-1-1024x683.jpg\")
Professor Heilbronn says GP\u2019s can be confident recommending intermittent fasting as a proven alternative to continuous calorie restriction (antoniodiaz \/ Shutterstock).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis review combines many forms of intermittent fasting, which is a mistake,\u201d Professor Heilbronn says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many types of \u2018intermittent fasting\u2019, and they are not equivalent for weight loss and should not be mashed together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is some evidence that health is improved despite modest weight loss by time-restricted eating due to better alignment of circadian rhythms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Heilbronn says the review also included very few studies to come to its conclusions.<\/p>\n
\u201cType of control matters. Some of the control groups were not completely inactive or waitlist \u2014 they received some information and guidance for weight loss. This reduces the apparent difference between intermittent fasting and control,\u201d she says.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have heterogeneous results because they are lumping together diets that should not be put together. Which will result in heterogeneity \u2026 some also include those with diabetes who are typically refractory to weight loss (even with semaglutide).\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Heilbronn says GP\u2019s can be confident recommending intermittent fasting as a proven alternative to continuous calorie restriction over 6-12 months, based on the available scientific evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people find it very difficult to keep weight off beyond 12 months, no matter what approach they use,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is because the body has biological mechanisms that encourage weight regain after weight loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, levels of satiety peptides and other hormones that make you feel full drop, leptin also drops, decreasing your energy expenditure, and hunger hormones like ghrelin increase.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, weight often returns after a year, whether someone followed a calorie-restricted diet or intermittent fasting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExercise and weight loss medications can help maintain the loss by counteracting these biological signals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nance Haxton was a journalist at the ABC for nearly 20 years. She\u2019s also worked as an Advocate at the Disability Royal Commission helping people with disabilities tell their stories\u00a0and as a senior reporter for the National Indigenous Radio Service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that time she\u2019s won a\u00a0range of Australian and international honours, including two Walkley Awards, and three New York Festivals Radio Awards trophies.<\/p>\n
Now freelancing as The Wandering Journo, Nance is independently producing podcasts including her personal audio slice of Australia \u201cStreets of Your Town\u201d.<\/p>\n
Subscribe to the free\u00a0InSight+\u00a0weekly newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>. It is available to all readers, not just registered medical practitioners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An international study has found that intermittent fasting has little to no benefit for overweight or obese adults,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[102,6636,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-502867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}