An international team of scientists, including scientists from Graz, have found evidence that alternate-day fasting may be the most effective for weight loss. During a test run, subjects were able to achieve a significant reduction in BMI (body mass index, note).
“Intermittent fasting has proven itself as one of the most promising methods. It basically includes certain periods of time without caloric intake.” The most common are practices where, for example, no calories are consumed for 16 hours (16/8).
But there are also such intervals with a meal break of 20 hours (20/4). “Another typical form is fasting every other day (…).” However, to date, no research has compared the effects of these three forms of intermittent fasting.
This is exactly what the research team investigated with a total of 25 subjects* for a total of three months (four weeks of controlled initial phase, eight weeks of fasting). Eleven subjects limited their food intake using the 16/8 mode, six used the 20/4 method, and eight subjects fasted every other day.
Weight gain in the 16/8 group
The results were most in favor of alternate-day fasting: the six subjects on this regimen showed a significant reduction in BMI of 0.60 (kilograms squared of height in meters). In the 16/8 group there was even a small but not significant weight gain, and in the 20/4 group there was a non-significant reduction in BMI value of 0.35.
This trend was also visible in terms of pure body weight: in the group of subjects who only consumed calories every other day, there was a statistically significant weight loss of 1.9 kilograms. The 16/8 group achieved a slight (statistically not significant) weight loss of 0.6 kilograms, while the 20/4 group recorded a statistically non-significant weight loss of 1.1 kilograms.
*The subjects were healthy people with an average age of approximately 26 years and an average body mass index (BMI) of 24.8 (on average just below the overweight limit). Various metabolic parameters (blood sugar levels, cholesterol, etc.) and body weight trends were examined.
Source: Krone
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