Fasting diets are not better than calorie counting for weight loss

Eating only within an eight-hour window during the day works about as well as calorie counting for weight loss, a one-year trial has found. The results suggest that fasting diets work simply by causing people to eat less overall, says Krista Varady at the University of Illinois Chicago, rather than offering any specific weight-loss benefits.

Fasting diets, also sometimes called intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating, have grown in popularity in recent years as an alternative way to lose …