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Updated: Aug 22, 2025
Assessment of the Metabolic Effects of Isocaloric 2:1 Intermittent Fasting in Mice
Published on: November 27, 2019
A meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of alternate day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating for
Paloma Elortegui Pascual1, Maryann R Rolands1, Alison L Eldridge1
1Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, Nestlé Research, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Objective:
The objective of this meta-analysis was to compare the effectiveness of different intermittent fasting (IF) regimens on weight loss, in the general population, and compare these to traditional caloric energy restriction (CER).
Methods:
Three databases were searched from 2011 to June 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed weight loss and IF, including alternate day fasting (ADF), the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating (TRE). A random effect network analysis was used to compare the effectiveness between the three regimens. Meta-regression analysis was presented as weighted mean differences of body weight loss.
Results:
The exploratory random effects network analysis of 24 RCTs (n = 1768) ranked ADF as the most effective, followed by CER and TRE. The meta-analysis showed that IF regimens resulted in similar weight loss to CER (mean difference 0.26 kg, 95% CI: -0.31 to 0.84; p = 0.37). Compliance was generally high (>80%) in trials shorter than 3 months.
Conclusions:
The present meta-analysis concludes that IF is comparable to CER and a promising alternative for weight loss. Among the three regimens, ADF showed the highest effectiveness for weight loss, followed by CER and TRE. Further well-powered RCTs with longer durations of intervention are required to draw solid conclusions.
