In a paper published in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers presented the results of a clinical trial that involved 30 non-obese volunteers who practised the eating regime (known as ADF) for at least six months. Their ‘fast’ days lasted for 36 hours and saw them completely abstain from food, while their ‘feast’ days only lasted for 12 hours. During this time, they could chow down on anything that took their fancy, including pizza and cake.
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After just four weeks, they found that ADF had lead to reduced the calorie intake, body mass index and improved the torso fat composition in all participants.
“Here, we show in a clinical trial that a related intervention, alternate day fasting, also leads to striking reduction in overall calorie intake over the course of the study but is more easily tolerated than continuous CR and provokes similar beneficial changes on the cardiovascular system and on body composition while being safe for a period of >6 months,” the study’s authors noted.
“We also found positive alterations in cardiovascular disease risk factors and in fat mass after only 4 weeks of ADF. In the future, this practice, which is already growing in use as a lifestyle intervention, could eventually accommodate modern healthcare in various settings.”
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