Fasting Evidence

Evidence map

Metabolic markers: what the evidence base looks like

9 publications, 3 of them trials and 5 syntheses. This page describes the shape of that literature rather than summarising its conclusions.

Updated 4 min read 9 citations

What the evidence on metabolic markers is made of Of 9 publications on this topic, the breakdown by study type: 5 meta-analysis, 3 randomised trial, 1 review. 531meta-analysis (5)randomised trial (3)review (1)
9 publications, by study type. Volume is not strength — the same count can be a settled question or a pile of commentary, and which one it is depends almost entirely on this breakdown. Harvested from PubMed and Crossref; publication type as recorded by the source.

What this literature is made of

The synthesis is ahead of the primary literature here — reviews and meta-analyses drawing on a modest number of underlying studies. Treat confident conclusions with the caution the sample size deserves.

The distinction that matters most is between synthesis and primary research. A meta-analysis pools trials and is the closest thing to a settled answer a field produces. A narrative review is one group's reading of the same material and can be selective without being dishonest. Counting them together, which most citation counts do, obscures exactly the thing you want to know.

When the metabolic markers literature was published Publication years for the 9 papers on this topic, grouped into bands from before 2015 through to 2023 onwards. 2023 onwards7 papers2020-20222 papers
Still active. The most recent paper here is from 2026, so this is a field where an answer written today may not hold for long. Publication years as recorded by PubMed and Crossref.

How this page is built

Everything above is computed from the citations this site harvested from PubMed and Crossref, not written by hand. When the weekly harvest finds a new paper on this topic, these counts change and the characterisation changes with them. That is the point: a hand-written claim about how strong an evidence base is starts decaying the day it is written.

Publication type is taken as the source records it. That is imperfect — journals label inconsistently, and a paper indexed as a "review" may be a systematic one — so treat the bands as approximate. They are accurate enough to distinguish a trial literature from a commentary literature, which is the distinction that matters.

The strongest work on this topic

Ordered by study design first, then recency. The full set is listed in the references below.

  1. Intermittent fasting for adults with overweight or obesity — Garegnani LI, Oltra G, Ivaldi D et al., 2026, meta-analysis
  2. Intermittent fasting strategies and their effects on body weight and other cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials — Semnani-Azad Z, Khan TA, Chiavaroli L et al., 2025, meta-analysis
  3. Risks and Benefits of Intermittent Fasting for the Aging Cardiovascular System — Ozcan M, Abdellatif M, Javaheri A et al., 2024, systematic review
  4. Intermittent fasting versus continuous energy-restricted diet for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome for glycemic control: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials — Wang X, Li Q, Liu Y et al., 2021, meta-analysis
  5. Intermittent fasting and weight loss: Systematic review — Welton S, Minty R, O'Driscoll T et al., 2020, systematic review
  6. A 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Meal Replacement Diet and Glycemic Control for Adults With Diabetes: The EARLY Randomized Clinical Trial — Guo L, Xi Y, Jin W et al., 2024, randomised controlled trial
  7. Effect of intermittent fasting 16:8 and 14:10 compared with control-group on weight reduction and metabolic outcomes in obesity with type 2 diabetes patients: A randomized controlled trial — Sukkriang N, Buranapin S, 2024, randomised controlled trial
  8. Brain responses to intermittent fasting and the healthy living diet in older adults — Kapogiannis D, Manolopoulos A, Mullins R et al., 2024, randomised controlled trial
  9. Intermittent fasting and human metabolic health — Carvajal V, Marín A, Gihardo D et al., 2023, review
How much research is there on metabolic markers?
9 publications are indexed here, of which 3 are trials and 5 are syntheses.
Does more research mean a stronger conclusion?
No. Composition matters more than volume — five randomised trials support a claim far better than fifty commentaries, and citation counts do not distinguish between them.
How current is this?
The most recent paper indexed here is from 2026. The set is refreshed weekly from PubMed and Crossref.
Why does this page not tell me the answer?
Because summarising a literature into a conclusion requires reading it, and doing that automatically is how confident nonsense gets published. This page tells you how much weight a conclusion could bear; the articles on this site do the interpreting.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. Intermittent fasting for adults with overweight or obesity Garegnani LI, Oltra G, Ivaldi D, et al. · The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 41692034Full text
  2. Intermittent fasting strategies and their effects on body weight and other cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials Semnani-Azad Z, Khan TA, Chiavaroli L, et al. · BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 40533200Full text
  3. Risks and Benefits of Intermittent Fasting for the Aging Cardiovascular System Ozcan M, Abdellatif M, Javaheri A, et al. · The Canadian journal of cardiology · 2024 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 38354947
  4. Intermittent fasting versus continuous energy-restricted diet for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome for glycemic control: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Wang X, Li Q, Liu Y, et al. · Diabetes research and clinical practice · 2021 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 34391831
  5. Intermittent fasting and weight loss: Systematic review Welton S, Minty R, O'Driscoll T, et al. · Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2020 · Systematic review PubMed 32060194Full text
  6. A 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Meal Replacement Diet and Glycemic Control for Adults With Diabetes: The EARLY Randomized Clinical Trial Guo L, Xi Y, Jin W, et al. · JAMA network open · 2024 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 38904963Full text
  7. Brain responses to intermittent fasting and the healthy living diet in older adults Kapogiannis D, Manolopoulos A, Mullins R, et al. · Cell metabolism · 2024 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 38901423Full text
  8. Effect of intermittent fasting 16:8 and 14:10 compared with control-group on weight reduction and metabolic outcomes in obesity with type 2 diabetes patients: A randomized controlled trial Sukkriang N, Buranapin S · Journal of diabetes investigation · 2024 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 38932663Full text
  9. [Intermittent fasting and human metabolic health] Carvajal V, Marín A, Gihardo D, et al. · Revista medica de Chile · 2023 · Review DOIPubMed 37906749