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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

12-week trial in 96 adults on equal calories: time restricted eating had mixed results

Li and colleagues · Cell reports. Medicine · 2024

Original title: Effects of healthy low-carbohydrate diet and time-restricted eating on weight and gut microbiome in adults with overweight or obesity: Feeding RCT.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Mixed

All groups lost 2.57 to 4.11 kg on the same calories. Time restricted eating added a further drop in BMI but also more lean mass loss, while the low-carb diet added fat loss.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
96 people · adults with overweight or obesity
What was tested
time restricted eating and/or low-carb diet, all fed the same limited calories, for 12 weeks plus 28 weeks follow-up
What it measured
The question itself: weight loss, compared with ordinary calorie cutting
How long
12 weeks
Trial registration
ChiCTR2200056363
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
Cell reports. Medicine, 2024
Source
PubMed record 39454570. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • •Medium size: 96 people.
  • •Lasted 12 weeks.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: weight loss, compared with ordinary calorie cutting.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: weight loss

    9

    5 benefit, 2 mixed, 2 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    8

    4 benefit, 3 mixed, 1 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    1

    1 benefit

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does intermittent fasting help with weight loss?”

Yes, but about like calorie cutting.

Confidence: moderate. Based on 26 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 8 papers on the same step: 5 benefit, 1 mixed, 2 no difference. This one found mixed. It differs from most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 26 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads differed. The reviewer checked the abstract and kept the first read. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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