https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3680567/
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/fu..._pub%3Dpubmed&
As usual I'll play devil's advocate.
Intermittent fasting is a fad. It may come out that it has all the great effects that it purports, but right now the research is only just at the beginning stages. Many articles are using animal models, many are using 'alternate day' fasting, and many are of poor quality and lack comparisons to simple caloric restriction models.
As with all dieting advice, the number one question comes down to:
can you maintain it? Dieting is pointless if it's temporal. 95% of people just gain the weight back weeks to months later. Not to mention, the second review article says:
Quote:
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Research has not demonstrated that alternate-day fasting regimens produce superior weight loss in comparison to standard, continuous calorie restriction weight-loss plans.
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So..
#1. You must still operate at a caloric deficit to lose weight. This means that you can't 'over-binge' when you actually do eat. Does this type of diet increase your risk to engage in unhealthy binge eating behaviors?
#2. Is it any easier to maintain an intermittent fasting meal plan then it is a regular meal plan?
#3. Are the metabolic markers of disease changing because of the fasting or because of the caloric deficit in these studies?
#4. What are the (currently un-qualified) other effects? Sleep, ability to gain muscle mass, fatigue, mental acuity, etc?
It's definitely good to see people engaging in better (maybe?) healthy behaviors that they may not have, but we've seen these types of diets come around (Atkin's was huge) without being very sustainable.