Counting calories versus intermittent fasting, Part 2, or Part 5, 7, 12, not sure, lost count
a while ago.
But yes, a new research is pitting these two dietary ideologies against each other once
again.
Which will stand tall this time?
Let's find out.
In the scientific literature, managing calories has been THE intervention consistently linked
to changes in bodyweight.
At this point, even with the inconstant nature of science, it's largely trivial to debate
against calories in versus calories out for weight management, but it certainly hasn't
stopped people from doing so.
And one of the more prevailing arguments against it is none other than fasting.
You see, the science indeed shows that fasting can lead to significant weight loss.
Unfortunately, the science also shows that fasting can only do so by abiding to the same
calorie rules.
And with similar calorie restrictions, science shows that you'll lose similar amounts of
weight with fasting as you would with just counting your calories.
And this new study is no exception.
In this 2023 study, subjects fasting lost, on average, statistically similar amounts
of weight over a 12-month period as subjects tracking their calorie deficit.
So, no, fasting per se does not at all dispute the importance of calories.
But there's something else about this new study that makes it a bit more fascinating
than others.
No doubt, restricting calories is important.
But, what if you can restrict calories without even knowing it?
Better yet, what if we can restrict calories without even knowing it and without even intentionally
trying to lose weight?
The subjects fasting in this study did just that.
They were simply instructed to eat within an 8-hour window each day between 12 and 8
P.M, with zero instructions on counting calories nor were they told to lose weight.
The calorie group, on the other hand, did track calories and were instructed to eat
25% below their estimated calorie maintenance.
Now, a few more details about this study.
The subjects were a racially diverse group of 90 adults with obesity.
The intervention lasted twelve months split into two six-month phases.
The first phase was the weight loss phase, where the groups followed the aforementioned
diet protocols.
The second was the maintenance phase, where the calorie group now ate at the level of
their estimated maintenance, and the fasting group extended their eating window from 8
to 10 hours.
In the end, the fasting subjects lost, on average, 4.6 kilograms and the calorie subjects
lost 5.4 kilograms, which is not statistically significantly different.
The weight loss is similar probably because both groups also achieved similar daily calorie
restrictions of around 400 calories below maintenance.
And that, again is the big takeaway.
The fasting group did not intend to reduce calories nor did they intend to actively lose
weight, yet they still did at a similar rate as subjects that did intend to reduce calories
and did intend to actively lose weight.
This is quite a huge deal, especially for people dealing with obesity.
And in a way, it makes intermittent fasting superior to counting calories by helping you
skip the counting part entirely.
Of course, and some of you with poor experiences with it can attest to this, intermittent fasting
is not for everyone.
Some might still eat above maintenance calories with fasting.
And, some might struggle eating in a specific time window each day.
However, I do wanna point out that fasting subjects in this study also reported higher
adherence rates.
At the very least, for some anyway, intermittent fasting can be a perfectly fine addition to
their weight loss strategy.
And considering obesity rates today, more options are more than welcome.
So, if you haven't given it a shot and you're not seeing results with just tracking your
calories, then tracking your time might be worth considering.
But, another big calorie debate is whether all calories are actually equal.
If you wanna find out, check out this next video on just that.
If you enjoyed this video, please give it an intermittent thumbs up and share it with
your fast-loving friends.
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As always, thank you for watching and don't forget to get your protein!