Are intermittent fasting or eating less the best way to lose weight?

There is some evidence that reducing calories overall may be a best way to lose weight than reducing eating hours.

Weight loss strategies such as intermittent fasting are becoming more popular. There are periods of fasting between planned meals in this eating pattern. The eating plan has been found to help obese people lose weight and improve their cardiometabolic outcomes, according to some data.

Intermittent fasting doesn’t seem to compare well to calorie-restricting diets in general.

In a study published by the American Heart Association on January 18, it found that eating fewer bigger meals more frequently may be more effective as a weight loss strategy than intermittent fasting.

Research of scientists on best way to lose weight

Scientists tested whether fasting intervals between meals influenced weight changes among 547 adults from three health systems. There were almost 80 percent whites, 12 percent blacks, and about 3 percent Asians. Those participating in the study were average 51 years old and had average BMIs that fell into the obese range.

Research participants tracked their meals, sleep, and wake-up hours using Daily24, a mobile app developed by the research team.

 Researchers could thus calculate the interval between the first and last meals, the first meal after waking up, and the last meal before sleeping.

As a result of eating more medium-sized and large meals (more than 1,000 calories) over the six-year period, weight fluctuations not associated with meal time.

The number of meals eaten each day was related to weight loss, as was eating fewer meals with fewer calories.

People who ate right after waking up and ate more time between their last meal and bedtime gained less weight, according to the scientists.

Intermittent fasting, a technique of restricting eating over a limited period of time,  not found to lead to weight changes in the study.