Risk of intermittent fasting in obese patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59471/ijhsc2025253Keywords:
Obesity, Adverse Effects, Intermittent Fasting, Weight LossAbstract
Introduction: due to the high prevalence of obesity nowadays, different treatments have emerged to combat it, such as intermittent fasting. This is defined as a voluntary abstinence from food and beverages for specific and recurrent periods; however, it is not risk-free.
Objective: to determine the complications and benefits of intermittent fasting for body weight control.
Methods: a systematic review of published scientific articles based on PubMed databases was carried out. A search strategy was used for information retrieval. Filters and inclusion criteria were used to select the articles.
Results: when using the Intermittent Fasting protocol, significant adverse effects were observed, such as fatigue, headache, constipation, halitosis, sleep disorders, diarrhea, vertigo, exacerbation of gastric reflux, malaise, stomach pains, hunger and decrease in body weight in obese adults. However, with regard to cardiometabolic parameters, it is important to note that many of these studies have limitations.
Conclusion: intermittent fasting could be used as a suitable treatment to achieve weight reduction and decrease health-threatening risk factors
References
Phillips M. Fasting as a Therapy in Neurological Disease. Nutrients.2019;11(10):2501.
Welton S, Minty R, O’Driscoll T, Willms H, Poirier D, Madden S, et al Intermittent fasting and weight loss. Can Fam Physician. 2020;66(2):117–25.
Mmayo Clinic. (2022). Ayuno intermitente: ¿cuáles son los beneficios? https://www.mayoclinic.org/es-es/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/intermittent-fasting/faq-20441303
Patterson, R. E., & Sears, D. D. (2017). Metabolic effects of intermittent fasting. Annual Review of Nutrition, 37(1), 371–393. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064634
Boron WF, Boulpaep EL. Fisiologia médica. 2018. 1392 p.
Revistanutricionclinicametabolismo.org/public/site/Revision_Canicoba.pdfde Cabo R, Mattson MP. Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease. N Engl J Med. 2019; 381(26):2541-51.doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1905136.
He S, Wang J, Zhang J, Xu J. Intermittent Versus Continuous Energy Restriction for Weight Loss and Metabolic Improvement: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review. Obesity. 2021;29(1):108-15.
Patterson RE, Sears DD. Metabolic Effects of Intermittent Fasting. Annual Review of Nutrition. 37:371-393. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064634
Organización Mundial de la Salud. Obesidad y Sobrepeso. 2024. https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
, Ministerio de Salud Argentina. Sobrepeso y BGobesidad. Argentina.gob.ar; 2024. https://www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/alimentacion-saludable/obesidad
Contreras-Lear E. A., Santiago-García J. Obesidad, síndrome metabólico y su impacto en las enfermedades cardiovasculares. México: Rev Biomed 2011; 22:103-115. https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/revbio/bio-2011/bio113e.pdf
Effects of 8-hour time restricted feeding on body weight and metabolic disease risk factor sin obese adults: A pilot study. Nutrition and Healthy Aging 2018 (4): 345-353
Effects of time-restricted feeding on body weight and metabolism. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (2019)https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-019-09524-w
Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease. NEJM 2019; 381: 2541-2551
Kato H, Yoshimoto T, Sakuraba A, et al. Long-term efficacy of a proton pump inhibitor in treating reflux esophagitis after endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer: a retrospective study. Dig Endosc. 2017;29(4):435-442. doi: 10.1111/den.12678.
Zhang Q, Zhang C, Wang H, Ma Z, Liu D, Guan X, et al. Intermittent Fasting versus Continuous Calorie Restriction: Which Is Better for Weight Loss? Nutrients. 24 de abril de 2022;14(9):1781.
Jamshed H, Steger FL, Bryan DR, Richman JS, Warriner AH, Hanick CJ, et al. Effectiveness of Early Time-Restricted Eating for Weight Loss, Fat Loss, and Cardiometabolic Health in Adults With Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA InternMed. 2022;182(9):953-62.
Chair SY, Cai H, Cao X, Qin Y, Cheng HY, Ng MT. Intermittent Fasting in Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Nurs Res. febrero de 2022;30(1):e185.
Silva AI, Direito M, Pinto-Ribeiro F, Ludovico P, Sampaio-Marques B. Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Regulation of Metabolic Homeostasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Health and Metabolic-Related Disorders. J Clin Med. 2023 May 26;12(11):3699. doi: 10.3390/jcm12113699
Aragon AA, Schoenfeld BJ. Does Timing Matter? A Narrative Review of Intermittent Fasting Variants and Their Effects on Bodyweight and Body Composition. Nutrients [Internet]. 2022 [citado 17 de junio de 2023]; Disponible en: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9736182
Zhang L min, Liu Z, Wang J qi, Li R qiang, Ren J yi, Gao X, et al. Randomized controlled trial for time- restricted eating in overweight and obese young adults. iScience. 2022;25(9):104870.
Cienfuegos S, Gabel K, Kalam F, Ezpeleta M, Wiseman E, Pavlou V, et al. Effects of four-hour and six- hour time-restricted feeding on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized controlled trial in adults with obesity. Cell Metab. 2020;32(3):366-378.e3.
Silverii GA, Cresci B, Benvenuti F, Santagiuliana F, Rotella F, Mannucci E. Effectiveness of intermittent fasting for weight loss in individuals with obesity: A metaanalysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2023;33(8):1481-9.
Maroofi M, Nasrollahzadeh J. Effect of intermittent versus continuous calorie restriction on body weight and cardiometabolic risk markers in subjects with overweight or obesity and mild-to-moderate hypertriglyceridemia: a randomized trial. Lipids Health Dis. 2020;19:216
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Maiara Mizaela Santana, Lorena Djament (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.
How to Cite
