Cutting daily calorie intake reduces fat mass better than alternate-day fasting
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Restricted energy intake and alternate-day fasting both reduced body mass, but restricted energy intake offered more fat-reducing benefits, according to results of a small randomized controlled trial.
The 3-week trial evaluated the effects of alternate-day fasting in 36 lean, healthy individuals. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups.
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One group restricted its daily energy intake to 75% without fasting. The other group fasted without energy restriction, consuming 200% of its daily energy intake every other day. The third group restricted energy intake and fasted, consuming 150% of its daily energy intake every other day.
Fasting and energy restriction were both effective in body mass reduction, Iain Templeman, a PhD student at the University of Bath, and colleagues wrote. However, fat loss contributed to nearly all energy restriction-induced weight loss, whereas fat loss and other mass loss contributed to alternate-day fasting weight loss.
In the group that restricted energy intake and fasting, there was a spontaneous reduction in light and moderate physical activity that was not evident in the other groups, Templeman and colleagues wrote.
There was no statistically significant difference between groups for short-term cardiometabolic health, gut hormone response or key genes in subcutaneous adipose tissue, according to the researchers. They acknowledged that this may be because of the study length or because participants were at healthy weights at baseline.
Other limitations included the disproportionate numbers of men and women in each group and self-reported adherence, according to the researchers.
“The main practical message for individuals to consider if planning to use alternate-day fasting for the purpose of weight loss or health gain is thus to consciously insert opportunities for physical activity alongside the intermittent fasting regimen to maintain energy expenditure and maximize potential beneficial effects on body composition,” Templeman and colleagues wrote.