ArticleFrontiers in nutrition2022
To eat or not to eat-an exploratory randomized controlled trial on fasting and plant-based diet in rheumatoid arthritis (NutriFast-Study).
Article in Frontiers in nutrition, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03856190 (Effectiveness of Therapeutic Fasting and Specific Diet in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis), which is not on this map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effectiveness of Therapeutic Fasting and Specific Diet in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Nutrition and diet in rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis: a systematic review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Plant-Based Diets Reduce Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review of Recent Evidence.Current hypertension reports · 2023Pooled it
- Women's experiences of a medically supervised fasting intervention for infertility: a qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
- Exploring the Immunomodulatory Effects of Fasting-Mimicking Diet in Healthy Individuals: A Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Trial
- The Oral-Gut-Immune-Nutrition Axis in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Fasting and Nutrition as Promising Treatment Strategies for Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Transitional Hormonal Stages.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Exploring participant experiences with the autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet in rheumatoid arthritis: a longitudinal qualitative study.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- Microbiota-targeted therapeutic strategies for elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis: based on the gut-joint axis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Caloric Restriction Is Associated With Enhanced Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.Gastro hep advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Dietary Recommendations from the Moroccan Society for Rheumatology (SMR) for Patients with Chronic Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2025Article
- Intermittent fasting in osteoarthritis: from mechanistic insights to therapeutic potential.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- [Influence of smoking, nutrition and other modifiable environmental factors on rheumatoid arthritis].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2024Review
- What do we know about dietary perceptions and beliefs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis? A scoping review.Rheumatology international · 2024Article
- International consensus on fasting terminology.Cell metabolism · 2024Article
- Observational
- The association between dietary intake of branched-chain amino acids and odds and severity of rheumatoid arthritis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Fasting is beneficial in many diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with lasting effects for up to 1 year. However, existing data dates back several decades before the introduction of modern therapeutic modalities. Objective: This exploratory RCT compares the effects of a 7-day fast followed by a plant-based diet (PBD) to the effects of the dietary recommendations of the German society for nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung, DGE) on RA disease activity, cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, and well-being. Methods: In this RCT we randomly assigned 53 RA patients to either a 7-day fast followed by an 11-week PBD or a 12-week standard DGE diet. The primary endpoint was the group change from baseline to 12 weeks on the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI). Further outcomes included other disease activity scores, body composition, and quality of life. Results: Of 53 RA patients enrolled, 50 participants (25 per group) completed the trial and were included into the per-protocol analysis. The primary endpoint was not statistically significant. However, HAQ-DI improved rapidly in the fasting group by day 7 and remained stable over 12 weeks (Δ-0.29, Conclusions: Compared with a guideline-based anti-inflammatory diet, fasting followed by a plant-based diet showed no benefit in terms of function and disability after 12 weeks. Both dietary approaches had a positive effect on RA disease activity and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with RA. Clinical trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03856190, identifier: NCT03856190.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.