Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have found that intermittent fasting, which is a popular health diet, is not actually healthier than a regular diet, and it is dangerous to lose muscle mass. This is reported by the Indiatimes edition.
The researchers compared two groups of participants, in one of which the volunteers followed a normal diet (three meals a day with a snack), and in the other they ate food only from noon to eight in the evening and did not limit themselves in this interval. After 12 weeks of observing the subjects, the researchers found no significant difference in fat mass, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
However, those who fasted experienced weight loss, with 65 percent of the decrease in muscle. This is much more than the 20-30 percent decrease in muscle mass that is seen with a typical calorie-restricted diet. This result shows that intermittent fasting is not beneficial if people continue to consume large amounts of calories within an eight-hour window.
