For decades, weight-loss advice has usually focused on eating fewer calories every day. While this approach works, many people eventually become tired of measuring portions, reading food labels, and resisting temptation at every meal.
New research from the University of Adelaide suggests there may be another option. Intermittent fasting appears to produce similar weight loss while placing less mental pressure on people trying to change their eating habits.
Intermittent fasting does not necessarily require special foods. Instead, it limits the hours or days when food is eaten. Because many people find it easier to follow simple time rules than count every calorie, scientists wanted to compare these two popular strategies in a carefully designed study.
More than 200 adults living with obesity joined the clinical trial, which lasted 18 months. Volunteers were randomly assigned to intermittent fasting, continuous calorie restriction, or standard healthy eating advice. This design helped ensure that differences between the groups were more likely to be caused by the diet itself.
People following intermittent fasting ate only a small amount of their daily energy needs during a four-hour morning window on three days each week before fasting for the next twenty hours. On other days they ate their usual meals.
Participants in the calorie restriction group reduced their food intake every day, while the comparison group simply received healthy eating information.
The results showed that both structured diets were effective. After six months, participants in both groups had lost roughly seven kilograms, much more than those receiving only standard advice. This means intermittent fasting was not superior for weight loss, but it was just as effective.
The biggest difference involved people’s thoughts and behaviours around food. Those following calorie restriction said success depended on continually limiting portions, preventing overeating, and carefully controlling their eating.
Participants following intermittent fasting did not report the same constant mental effort. Researchers believe this reduced need for ongoing self-control may make fasting easier for certain people to continue.
The study also found encouraging improvements in mood and quality of life among participants following either structured diet. This suggests that carefully planned weight-loss programs do not necessarily reduce wellbeing and may even improve it.
The researchers say there is no single diet that suits everyone. Instead, understanding how different people respond emotionally and psychologically to different eating plans may allow doctors to recommend more personalized approaches.
Future studies will explore which individuals benefit most from intermittent fasting and whether its advantages continue over many years. If confirmed, this could help more people achieve lasting weight management without feeling trapped in a constant cycle of dieting.
The study was published in the journal Clinical Nutrition. This was a randomized clinical trial involving more than 200 adults with obesity, making it stronger than many diet studies. The researchers compared two active weight-loss approaches with standard care over 18 months, allowing them to examine both physical and psychological outcomes.
However, participants knew which diet they were following, and the study mainly involved adults with obesity, so the findings may not apply to everyone. The results do not show that intermittent fasting is better for weight loss than calorie restriction.
Instead, they suggest it may be easier for some people to follow because it reduces the need for constant calorie counting and self-control. More long-term studies are needed to determine who benefits the most from each approach.
If you care about weight loss, please read studies that hop extract could reduce belly fat in overweight people, and early time-restricted eating could help lose weight .
For more health information, please see recent studies that Mediterranean diet can reduce belly fat much better, and Keto diet could help control body weight and blood sugar in diabetes.
Source: University of Adelaide.
