Intermittent fasting – a novel approach to treating overweight and obesity? – meta-analysis and literature review

LUBCZYŃSKA, Zuzanna, POPRAVKO, Yevheniia, LEWANDOWSKI, Mateusz Mirosław, BIENIA, Grzegorz, ŻOŁNIEREK, Maja, ŚWIĘTOCHOWSKI, Jakub, SIEKIERKO, Nikola, KOTUSIEWICZ, Wiktoria, JĘDRZEJEWSKA, Barbara & KOTULSKA, Maria. Intermittent fasting – a novel approach to treating overweight and obesity? – meta-analysis and literature review. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2023;38(1):64-80. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2023.38.01.005

https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/43929

https://zenodo.org/record/8012296

 

 

 

 

 

The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343.

Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences).

Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159.

Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu).

© The Authors 2023;

This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike.

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Received: 10.05.2023. Revised: 05.06.2023. Accepted: 05.06.2023. Published: 07.06.2023.

 

 

 

 

 

Intermittent fasting – a novel approach to treating overweight and obesity? – meta-analysis and literature review

 

1. Zuzanna Lubczyńska

zuzanna.smiech@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4860-2508

Grochowski Hospital im. dr med. Rafała Masztaka

Grenadierów 51/59 St., 04-073 Warsaw, Poland

 

2. Yevheniia Popravko  

epopravko1997@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-1802

Szpital Praski p.w. Przemienienia Pańskiego

Aleja Solidarności 67, 03-401 Warsaw, Poland

 

3. Mateusz Mirosław Lewandowski  

xm.lewandowski@gmail.com

Centralny Szpital Kliniczny - Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne WUM

Stefana Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4968-1770

 

4. Grzegorz Bienia  

grzegorzbienia@gmail.com

Wojskowy Instytut Medyczny - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy

ul. Szaserów 128, 04-141, Warsaw, Poland

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9036-5510

 

5. Maja Żołnierek

maja.zolnierek@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9030-7505

Samodzielny Publiczny Specjalistyczny Szpital Zachodni im. św. Jana Pawła II w Grodzisku Mazowieckim

Daleka 11 St., 05-825 Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland

 

6. Jakub Świętochowski  

jakub.swiet@gmail.com

Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne w Gdańsku

Dębinki 7, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3848-6520

 

7. Nikola Siekierko

n.siekierko@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1113-7112

Szpital Praski p.w. Przemienienia Pańskiego

Aleja Solidarności 67, 03-401 Warsaw, Poland

 

8. Wiktoria Kotusiewicz  

ww.kotusiewicz@gmail.com

Wojskowy Instytut Medyczny - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy

ul. Szaserów 128, 04-141, Warsaw, Poland

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4033-0648

 

9. Barbara Jędrzejewska

barbarajedrzejewska97@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2153-4311

Powiatowe Centrum Zdrowia w Otwocku,

Stefana Batorego 44 St., 05-400 Otwock, Poland

 

10. Maria Kotulska

marysia.kotulska1997@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9111-6745

Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw

Wołoska 137 St., 02-507 Warsaw, Poland

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a form of dietary intervention that includes periods of regular calorie intake alternated with periods of fasting. IF has gained a lot of attention as a potential approach to treating metabolic syndrome-related diseases. Therefore, health care professionals need to be able to provide their patients with evidence-based information on IF. The aim of this article is to review data on effectiveness of IF in weight loss, especially in comparison with calorie restriction.

Methods
PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies published from 1.01.2017 to 31.12.2022 that included phrases “intermittent fasting” or “alternate day fasting”, “intermittent fasting obesity”, “alternate day fasting obesity”. Intervention studies on obese or overweight patients were included. We excluded studies of short duration and studies that focused on intercurrent medical conditions. In total, 14 articles that suited those criteria were identified.

Results

Intermittent fasting induces pronounced metabolic changes in the body due to strict and time-limited restriction of calorie intake and in animal models was proved to prolong lifespan and modulate tumorigenesis and aging. It is a proposed new approach to treating obesity, which is a a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Conclusions

In our study, IF was found as effective, but not superior to calorie restriction in reducing body mass, improving body composition and reducing other cardiometabolic risk factors. Our findings are consistent with other recent systematic reviews. Further research is needed to directly compare various IF regimens and determine patients’ characteristics that may be associated with more successful implementation of intermittent fasting regimens.

Keywords: intermittent fasting, alternate day fasting, time-restricted eating, calorie restriction, weight loss, obesity