Dieting is very hard.

If you not obese, thank your parents for the good genes and for inculcating good dietary habits in you at a young age.

If you are not overweight, you don’t understand how utterly painful it is to diet.

People try various diets and often fail. Even people, who use Mounjaro to lose weight , can put it all back again if they stop the injections.

Any dieting is frustrating and calorie counting is hard. So “intermittent fasting” gained popularity quickly because it is relatively easy. Intermittent fasting was also very heavily promoted in social media.

Now a study reports that “intermittent fasting” is not the magic bullet.

The study author Luis Garegnani says:

“Intermittent fasting just doesn’t seem to work for overweight or obese adults trying to lose weight. It may be a reasonable option for some people, but the current evidence doesn’t justify the enthusiasm we see on social media”.

Is this the end for “intermittent fasting”?

Probably not.

Studies involving food, particularly dieting, are notoriously difficult to conduct.

So it would be hard to completely rule out “intermittent fasting” for all people. There may be some people for whom “intermittent fasting” works well. We don’t know.

References

1. BHF. British Heart Foundation. Will coming off Mounjaro reverse weight loss and other health benefits?.
2. Pubmed. Horn DB, Linetzky B, Davies MJ, Laffin LJ, Wang H, Murphy MA, Zimner-Rapuch S, Lau E, Arad AD, Lee CJ. Cardiometabolic Parameter Change by Weight Regain on Tirzepatide Withdrawal in Adults With Obesity: A Post Hoc Analysis of the SURMOUNT-4 Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2026 Feb 1;186(2):157-167. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6112. PMID: 41284285; PMCID: PMC12645400.
3. BBC News. Intermittent fasting may make little difference to weight loss, review finds. 16/2/26: Philippa Roxby. Health reporter
4. Pubmed. ORIGINAL SOURCE paper. Garegnani LI, Oltra G, Ivaldi D, Burgos MA, Andrenacci PJ, Rico S, Boyd M, Radler D, Escobar Liquitay CM, Madrid E. Intermittent fasting for adults with overweight or obesity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2026 Feb 16;2(2):CD015610. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD015610.pub2. PMID: 41692034; PMCID: PMC12906965.
5. Cochrane website. Evidence behind intermittent fasting for weight loss fails to match hype. Monday, February 16, 2026 By Mia Parkinson.

Disclaimer: Please note – This blog is NOT medical advice. This blog is NOT a expert medical opinion on various topics. This blog is purely for information research only and do check the sources where cited. But the author cannot vouch for scientific integrity of the sources cited and author is not responsible for any information in any advert on those cited pages. Please DO consult your own doctor to discuss concerns and options, which are directly relevant and specific to you. The views expressed in this blog are NOT, in any way whatsoever, intended to be a substitute for professional advice. The blog is NOT previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed, in any way, by any organisation that the author is associated with. The views expressed in this blog likely represents some of the author’s personal views held at the time of drafting this blog and MAY CHANGE overtime, particularly when new evidence comes to light.