Celeb fave ‘intermittent fasting’ diet may lead to type 2 diabetes: scientists

Intermittent fasting — the trendy dieting technique favored by celebs like Jennifer Aniston, Kourtney Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow — may actually be unhealthy.

That’s what a recent study revealed after examining the effects of the popular diet, in which people restrict their eating to a limited window of time during the day.

The research, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, tracked the eating habits of more than 103,000 adults (79% of whom were women) for an average of seven years.

There were 963 new cases of type 2 diabetes among the participants during the study. And people who regularly ate breakfast after 9:00 a.m. had 59% higher rates of type 2 diabetes than those who ate breakfast before 8:00 a.m.

“Biologically, this makes sense, as skipping breakfast is known to affect glucose and lipid control, as well as insulin levels,” Dr. Palomar-Cros, lead author of the study, said in a news release.

“This is consistent with two meta-analyses that conclude that skipping breakfast increases the risk of type 2 diabetes,” Palomar-Cros added.

Another behavior that seemed to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes was regularly having a late dinner (after 10:00 p.m.). Conversely, eating more often during the day — about five times throughout the day — lowered the risk of the disease.

Prolonged fasting seemed to be beneficial only when it was done by having breakfast before 8:00 a.m. and having an early dinner.

“We know that meal timing plays a key role in regulating circadian rhythms and glucose and lipid control, but few studies have investigated the relationship between meal timing or fasting and type 2 diabetes,” Palomar-Cros said. 

This latest study adds to a growing body of evidence calling out the intermittent fasting craze as little more than a fad diet.

A 2022 study, published in the journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that skipping breakfast was associated with a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

Other studies have found that intermittent fasting is about equal to counting calories when it comes to weight loss.

For example, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who participated in intermittent fasting and ate all of their calories within an eight-hour window lost the same amount of weight as those who ate whenever they wanted but counted calories.

Nonetheless, the intermittent-fasting diet does have its fans, and some research supports its effectiveness.

A recent study among people with type 2 diabetes found that those on a time-restricted eating diet lost 3.55% of their body weight over six months, while a calorie-restriction group lost none.

“Many people find counting calories very hard to stick to in the long term, but our study shows that watching the clock may offer a simple way to decrease calories and lose weight,” Vicky Pavlou of the University of Illinois at Chicago said in a news release, as reported by US News.

“There are multiple types of medications for those with type 2 diabetes, some of which can cause low blood sugar and some that need to be taken with food,” Pavlou added. “Therefore, it is important to work closely with a dietitian or doctor when implementing this dieting approach.”