WATCH: This diet is more effective than intermittent fasting for weight loss

Intermittent fasting has been hailed as the ‘holy grail’ of diets by some experts while others has slammed it as ‘just a new term to justify skipping breakfast’.

Intermittent fasting involves following a precise schedule with intervals of fasting and specific times in the day when you are allowed to eat. 

This energy restriction diet has been shown to offer numerous benefits including an enhanced immune system and a faster metabolism, but in recent years it has become increasingly popular amongst those wanting to lose weight.

But new research has now found that you actually don’t have to starve yourself for 16 hours to lose weight. There is another option that is more effective for weight loss.

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Watch: Researchers say this diet is more effective than intermittent fasting

Reducing your calories is better for weight loss

According to researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the number of calories consumed may be more important than the timing of eating when it comes to losing weight.

Following a study of nearly 550 adults, the team reported that meal timing was not associated with weight-change during the six-year-follow up period.

“This includes the interval from first to last meal, from waking up to eating a first meal, from eating the last meal to going to sleep and total sleep duration,” said Dr Wendy L Bennett, who was a part of the research team said.

She added that the total daily number of large meals (estimated at more than 1 000 calories) and medium meals (estimated at 500 – 1 000 calories) were each associated with increased weight over the six-year follow-up. Fewer smaller meals (estimated at less than 500 calories), however, was associated with decreasing weight.

In addition, the researchers didn’t detect an association between meal timing and weight change in a population with a wide range of body weights.

Looking to the future, researchers hope to apply the findings to a more diverse population.

*Compiled by Xanet Scheepers

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