Intermittent Fasting: What Are the Benefits?
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMJ Medicine in 2026 by Yu-En Chen and colleagues offers a timely look at intermittent fasting–a diet that focuses on when you eat rather than what you eat. The researchers wanted to know whether timing matters. In other words, if you limit the hours in which you eat, is it better to eat earlier or later in the day?
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that alternates between periods of eating and fasting. There are many variations, but one of its most practical forms is time-restricted eating, in which individuals confine their daily food intake to a consistent window–usually between 6 and 12 hours–and fast for the remaining hours of the day. Unlike traditional diets, this method does not necessarily require counting calories or restricting specific foods. The premise is that aligning eating patterns with the body’s internal clock may improve health.
Excerpted from The Mining Journal
