Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss: Does it Work?
Whether it’s the 5:2 or 16:8 plans, fasting diets have won celebrity fans in recent years, including Jennifer Aniston. The Morning Show and Friends star revealed last year that she avoids solid foods for 16 hours of every day, only eating during a restricted eight-hour window to help control her weight.
The 5:2 plan, under which you eat normally for five days and then strictly control calories for two, also has its share of followers, with Phillip Schofield and model Miranda Kerr among those reported to have used it to keep in shape.
But research from the University of California, San Francisco, recently poured cold water on the idea that simply restricting your hours of eating was enough to shift the pounds. They tasked a group of volunteers with following a 16:8 fasting diet, while others ate three meals a day whenever they wanted. Both groups saw a modest fall in their weight, suggesting the fasting plan made virtually no difference.
Excerpted from The Press and Journal
