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Intermittent fasting has been all the rage in recent years, with many people attributing the diet method to helping them lose weight and keep it off. However, a new study got to the bottom of the diet fad, and determined what actually may be the real secret to success.
For the study, published Friday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at Johns Hopkins University set out to determine whether the number of calories an individual consumed, or the time meals were consumed, led to weight loss. With intermittent fasting, dieters typically restrict their caloric intake to a window of time during the day; or with some plans, skip meals for an entire day.
The research team took a random sampling of 41 adults suffering from obesity and prediabetes and randomly assigned them into two groups. The first group adhered to a time-restricted diet in which they were allowed to eat from between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., consuming the bulk of their calories in the morning.
The second group, on the other hand, were free to eat from 8 a.m. to midnight, eating most of their calories in the evening. Throughout the duration of the study, both groups ate the same number of daily baseline calories, which was calculated by each participant’s personal history and activity level.
After following the diet plans for 12 weeks, at the end of the trial, researchers learned that both groups had lost approximately the same amount of weight, and that there weren’t any measurable differences in fasting glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, or lipid levels.
In other words, the team was able to determine that it was the number of calories consumed in a day—not the timeframe in which they are consumed—that contributes to successful weight loss.
Though, that being said, intermittent fasting can still be beneficial to a weight loss plan, as it generally helps people stick to their goals by consuming overall fewer calories in the window of time allotted for meals. So while fasting for 16 to 24 hours may not give you license to eat anything you want, with common sense, it can lead to lasting results.
New to intermittent fasting? Here are the five best intermittent fasting apps to help you get started on your weight loss journey.
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