A new study says limiting food to six to eight hours a day does not lead to faster weight loss.
Hollywood stars like Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman reportedly practice intermittent fasting to lose weight.
But Chinese researchers say the strategy, which became popular in the 2010s, is no more effective than limiting a person’s calorie intake.
Dr. Ethan Weiss, a diet researcher at the University of California at San Francisco, told the New York Times that “eating in a narrow window has no benefit.”
He said that simply “limiting calorie intake” can help people lose weight.

Jennifer Aniston (right) and Nicole Kidman (left) are two celebrities who reportedly engage in intermittent fasting.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting involves changing the days and days of fasting that you normally eat.
Intermittent fasting diets generally fall into two categories: time-limited diets, also known as the 16:8 diet, and intermittent 5:2 fasting, which limit feeding times to 6-8 hours per day.
The 16:8 diet is a form of intermittent fasting, also known as time-limited eating.
Followers of the meal plan fast for 16 hours a day and eat whatever they want for the remaining eight hours, usually between 10am and 6pm.
This is more tolerable than the popular 5:2 diet, where followers limit their calories to 500-600 per day two days a week and then eat normally for the remaining five days.
In addition to losing weight, 16:8 intermittent fasting is believed to improve blood sugar levels, strengthen brain function and help us live longer.
Many choose to eat between noon and 8 pm as this means they only have to fast for the night and skip breakfast, but can still have lunch and dinner with some snacks.
It’s best to choose healthy options like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains when you eat.
And for water and sugar-free drinks.
The disadvantages of a fasting plan may be that people spend too much time eating, which can lead to weight gain.
It can also lead to long-term digestive problems, as well as hunger, fatigue and weakness.
In the studio – Published in the New England Journal of Medicine Scientists from the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, followed 139 obese people for a year.
Some were split into two groups, who were followed by a low-calorie diet that allowed them to eat between 8:00 and 16:00 every day.
Others took the same calorie restrictions, but could eat whenever they wanted.
The women in the study could eat 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day, while the men were able to consume 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day. This is about a quarter of the recommended daily intake for both groups.
Participants were asked to take pictures of everything they ate and keep a food diary to ensure they adhered to the plan.
Results showed that people in the time-limited group lost 18 pounds over the course of the year, while those in the other group lost 14 pounds.
However, there was no significant difference in results, meaning that different eating programs did not cause differences in weight loss.
Additionally, there was no significant difference between the two in terms of waist circumference, body fat, or lean body mass.
“A time-limited diet was no more beneficial for weight loss than daily calorie restriction,” the researchers wrote in the paper.
“These results suggest that calorie restriction is responsible for many of the beneficial effects seen with the limited-term diet,” Weiss said.
Trendy fasting diets have been popular since the 2010s and have been embraced by various celebrities including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Benedict Cumberbatch.
In October 2019, Jennifer Aniston said she doesn’t eat breakfast and only drinks liquids in the morning, which allows her to eat until the last half of the day.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is said to have used the 5:2 intermittent fasting method to lose weight as the lead in the BBC drama Sherlock.
However, several studies have now suggested that intermittent fasting does not lead to faster weight loss.
In an article published in the Internal Medicine AMA in 2020, 116 participants were asked to eat three meals a day, whenever they wanted, or between 12:00 and 20:00 for 12 weeks.
Results showed that participants from both groups lost between 1.5 and 2 pounds, with no significant difference between the two.
However, other scientists have touted the method’s benefits, saying it may help prevent heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Professor Satchidananda Panda, of the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in California, wrote in Endocrine Reviews last year: “People who want to lose weight and live healthier lifestyles should pay more attention to when and what they eat.”
Eating on time is an easy-to-implement and effective nutrition strategy that requires less mental math than counting calories.
“Intermittent fasting can improve sleep and quality of life and reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.”
Professor Panda said that not following the body’s internal clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, can harm human health by activating the body’s genes at different times of the day, as well as that hormone levels and metabolism can change over a certain period of time. 24 hour period.
Source: Daily Mail

I am Anne Johnson and I work as an author at the Fashion Vibes. My main area of expertise is beauty related news, but I also have experience in covering other types of stories like entertainment, lifestyle, and health topics. With my years of experience in writing for various publications, I have built strong relationships with many industry insiders. My passion for journalism has enabled me to stay on top of the latest trends and changes in the world of beauty.