ReviewFood science & nutrition2026
Effect of Intermittent Fasting on Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials.
Review in Food science & nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Intermittent fasting (IF), an alternative calorie restriction strategy, supports weight management and may enhance cardiovascular health, improve glycemic control, and offer potential protective effects against cancer, alongside other possible health benefits. The objective of this systematic review is to study the impact of intermittent fasting on weight loss among overweight and obese adults. The original research articles were searched in four electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect, with specific time frame restrictions. After going through an organized process of screening and eligibility, 26 out of 2307 studies fitting the inclusion criteria were identified. The established methodological procedure observed in this review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines to ensure transparency and credibility in the approach. All the included studies demonstrated statistically significant reductions in body weight resulting from intermittent fasting interventions over durations ranging from 3 to 50 weeks. However, several trials exhibited comparable effectiveness between intermittent fasting and continuous calorie restriction. The findings suggest that intermittent fasting is an effective approach for weight loss, contributing to favorable changes in body composition, including a decrease in fat mass, an improvement in lean mass, and a reduction in waist circumference. These outcomes collectively contribute to improvements in body mass index (BMI) and overall metabolic health. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 (RoB2) tool for 24 RCT studies, resulting in 16 studies with a low risk of bias, 1 study with a high risk, and 7 studies showing a moderate risk. While two included non-randomized controlled studies were assessed using the MMAT tool. Different forms of intermittent fasting including TRE (16:8, 20:4, 14:10, and 18:6), Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), and IF (5:2) appear promising for sustainable weight management. Among these, ADF and TRE (particularly 16:8 protocols) demonstrated the most consistent evidence of weight reduction across included studies, with no evidence of statistically significant differences in comparison with continuous calorie restriction. Moreover, future studies should compare different protocols, such as time-restricted eating and alternate-day fasting, while exploring underlying physiological mechanisms to guide healthcare professionals in creating effective, personalized dietary strategies for managing overweight and obesity.
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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.