Intermittent fasting vs. calorie counting for weight loss

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1. 1

   Calorie restriction with or without time-restricted eating in weight loss

   New England Journal of Medicine (Liu et al.)Published Apr 21, 2022Checked Sep 30, 2026

   “Among 139 adults with obesity on the same calorie restriction for 12 months, adding an 8-hour eating window produced 8.0 kg versus 6.3 kg weight loss, a difference that was not significant.”

2. 2

   Effect of alternate-day fasting on weight loss, weight maintenance, and cardioprotection

   JAMA Internal Medicine (Trepanowski et al.)Published Jul 1, 2017Checked Sep 30, 2026

   “Over one year, alternate-day fasting did not produce superior weight loss or maintenance compared with daily calorie restriction; dropout was higher with alternate-day fasting (38% vs 29%).”

3. 3

   Time-restricted eating without calorie counting for weight loss in a racially diverse population

   Annals of Internal Medicine (Lin et al.)Published Jul 1, 2023Checked Sep 30, 2026

   “Over 12 months, 8-hour time-restricted eating without calorie counting produced weight loss similar to calorie restriction, both compared with a control group.”

4. 4

   Effects of time-restricted eating on weight loss and other metabolic parameters (TREAT)

   JAMA Internal Medicine (Lowe et al.)Published Nov 1, 2020Checked Sep 30, 2026

   “In 116 adults, 16:8 time-restricted eating without other guidance produced modest weight loss (0.94 kg) that did not differ significantly from consistent meal timing (0.68 kg) over 12 weeks.”

5. 5

   Efficacy of Different Modes of Intermittent Fasting for Decreasing Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat in Adults With Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

   Nutrition reviews (Khalafi et al.)Published May 6, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “Compared with CON, the 5:2 diet (standardized mean difference [SMD]: -0.54) and TRE (SMD: -0.44) led to greater reductions in VAT, whereas neither ADF nor CR had significantly larger effects. Compared with CR, TRE demonstrated a small reduction in VAT (SMD: -0.21); however, the difference was not statistically significant. Compared with CON, the 5:2 diet (SMD: -0.45) and TRE (SMD: -0.37) led to larger reductions in SAT, but ADF and CR did not lead to differential effects. No IF modality demonstrated superiority over CR for SAT.ConclusionCompared with CON, specific IF modalities-particularly the 5:2 diet and TRE-produce greater reductions in VAT and SAT. However, advantages over CR are limited, with only TRE approaching greater VAT reduction and no IF modality outperforming CR for SAT. IF may serve as an alternative to CR within a broader lifestyle approach, with adherence likely driving effectiveness.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO registration no. CRD420251145598.”

6. 6

   Effect of Intermittent Fasting on Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials.

   Food science & nutrition (Manzoor et al.)Published Sep 15, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “These outcomes collectively contribute to improvements in body mass index (BMI) and overall metabolic health. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 (RoB2) tool for 24 RCT studies, resulting in 16 studies with a low risk of bias, 1 study with a high risk, and 7 studies showing a moderate risk. While two included non-randomized controlled studies were assessed using the MMAT tool. Different forms of intermittent fasting including TRE (16:8, 20:4, 14:10, and 18:6), Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), and IF (5:2) appear promising for sustainable weight management. Among these, ADF and TRE (particularly 16:8 protocols) demonstrated the most consistent evidence of weight reduction across included studies, with no evidence of statistically significant differences in comparison with continuous calorie restriction. Moreover, future studies should compare different protocols, such as time-restricted eating and alternate-day fasting, while exploring underlying physiological mechanisms to guide healthcare professionals in creating effective, personalized dietary strategies for managing overweight and obesity.”

7. 7

   Intermittent fasting versus continuous energy restriction in MASLD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

   Frontiers in nutrition (Li & Li)Published May 13, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “No significant between-group differences were observed for magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF), liver stiffness, transaminases, glucose-related indices, total cholesterol, triglycerides, or HDL-C. In subgroup analyses, WDF was associated with a greater reduction in CAP, whereas TRF appeared to be associated with greater reductions in body weight and BMI.ConclusionIn patients with MASLD, intermittent fasting was associated with greater reductions in body weight, BMI, and LDL-C than continuous energy restriction. Although CAP-based analyses suggested a possible advantage of intermittent fasting for hepatic steatosis, this finding was not confirmed by MRI-PDFF and was no longer statistically significant in sensitivity analyses. Further large-scale, long-term randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251149184, Identifier: CRD420251149184.”

8. 8

   Efficacy of intermittent fasting on blood glucose and weight in type 2 diabetes and prediabetes: A comparison with ad libitum and continuous energy restriction diets.

   Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition (Chen et al.)Published Jun 1, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “Background and objectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the effects of intermittent fasting (IF) on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose (FBG), body weight (BW), and body mass index (BMI) in pa-tients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and prediabetes.Methods and study designA systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted for randomized controlled trials on IF in T2DM and prediabetes published before September 30, 2025. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 17.0.ResultsFourteen studies (sixteen arms), involving 899 patients, were included. Four studies (five arms) compared IF with ad libitum diet (316 patients), and ten studies (eleven arms) compared IF with continuous energy restriction diets (CERD) (583 patients). Meta-analysis showed that IF was more effective than the ad libitum diet in reducing HbA1c, BW, BMI and FBG (Standard-ized Mean Difference (SMD) (Hedges's g) -0.64, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) -1.04, -0.24; p ConclusionsIntermit-tent fasting is a effective dietary approach for patients with T2DM and prediabetes.”