Intermittent fasting 'doesn't work for overweight adults'

Intermittent fasting has surged in popularity with huge enthusiasm for the diet on social media - but research suggests simply fasting is unlikely to lead to weight loss.

- REBECCA WHITTAKER

The diet trend promises to hack biology without counting calories. Instead, it involves fasting for an extended period and then eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in a condensed eight-hour window.

Obesity is a significant public health problem that has become a leading cause of death in high-income countries. In 2022, 2.5 billion adults were overweight; of these, 890 million were living with obesity. In England, more than two-thirds of adults are estimated to be overweight or obese.

Being overweight or obese is a leading cause of cancer, second only to smoking, and is linked to at least 13 types of the disease. But intermittent fasting is unlikely to lead to greater weight loss in overweight or obese adults than traditional dietary advice or doing nothing, a new Cochrane review has found.