A 12 week intermittent fasting program may help people maintain weight loss for at least a year after the structured intervention ends, according to research involving the University of Granada (UGR).
Published in Clinical Nutrition, the study followed 99 adults who were overweight or obese. Half of the participants were women. Researchers found that limiting daily food intake to an eight hour period helped participants preserve more of their weight loss than maintaining an eating window of 12 hours or longer.
Intermittent Fasting Benefits Persisted for a Year
The researchers examined the popular 16:8 approach to intermittent fasting. Under this method, people fast for 16 hours each day and eat during the remaining eight hours.
The lasting benefits did not depend on whether participants ate earlier or later in the day. An early schedule allowed eating between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., while a later schedule used a window between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
