Does Intermittent Fasting Work? Ask a Nutritionist. January 4, 2022

Trying to lose some weight in the New Year with Intermittent Fasting? What type of diet is best?

There are many types of diets to try to help you lose weight. Intermittent fasting is a recent diet trend. This diet requires that you do not eat on specific days of the week or limit your eating to certain hours during the day. But is this type of dieting any better than calorie cutting diets?

New research shows that intermittent dieting is not any better than just cutting calories. People that cut their daily calories by about 25 percent lost more weight and fat tissue than people following an intermittent diet by fasting on certain days during the three weeks of this study. And there were no additional benefits to heart health, blood sugar or one’s metabolism with intermittent fasting.

Research experts said that regardless of how you achieve it, a modest reduction in calories is what makes a difference when it comes to weight loss. They recommend to reduce your portion sizes of food by about 25 percent and limit overeating. They also found that people who fast tended to be less active which might have kept them from losing weight. So if you decide to try intermittent fasting, try to stay physically active.

People who are pregnant, have diabetes or low blood sugar or have any chronic medical condition should always talk to their doctor before starting intermittent fasting. It’s very important to make sure you are getting adequate nutrition on any diet plan.

Joanne M. Gallivan, M.S., R.D.N. is a registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She served as the Director of the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) in the Office of Communication and Public Liaison for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1997-2016.  Previously, Ms. Gallivan has served as project manager for NIDDK’s Weight-Control Information Network (WIN), a national source of information on weight control, obesity, and weight-related nutritional disorders for health professionals and the public; as Contract Manager for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s National Cholesterol Education Program and Obesity Education Initiative, and as Director of the Prince George’s County Health Department Nutrition Division located in Maryland.

Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic is a free clinic in Charleston, SC, that provides free medical care to uninsured adults. The Free Clinic serves adults with no health insurance living at or below 299 % of the Federal poverty level who live or work on Johns, James, & Wadmalaw Island or Folly Beach, or serve the Hospitality Industry of Downtown Charleston. You can sign up for our monthly e-news updates, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.