Fasting Evidence

Evidence map

Time restricted: what the evidence base looks like

14 publications, 6 of them trials and 5 syntheses. This page describes the shape of that literature rather than summarising its conclusions.

Updated 4 min read 14 citations

What the evidence on time restricted is made of Of 14 publications on this topic, the breakdown by study type: 5 meta-analysis, 6 randomised trial, 3 review. 563meta-analysis (5)randomised trial (6)review (3)
14 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

This is a well-developed evidence base: multiple syntheses sitting on a substantial body of trials. Questions here are usually about applicability rather than about whether an effect exists.

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 time restricted literature was published Publication years for the 14 papers on this topic, grouped into bands from before 2015 through to 2023 onwards. 2023 onwards6 papers2020-20225 papers2015-20193 papers
Still active. The most recent paper here is from 2025, 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 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
  2. The Effect of Time-Restricted Eating Combined with Exercise on Body Composition and Metabolic Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis — Dai Z, Wan K, Miyashita M et al., 2024, meta-analysis
  3. A meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of alternate day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating for weight loss — Elortegui Pascual P, Rolands MR, Eldridge AL et al., 2023, meta-analysis
  4. Intermittent Fasting and Obesity-Related Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses of Randomized Clinical Trials — Patikorn C, Roubal K, Veettil SK et al., 2021, systematic review
  5. Intermittent fasting and weight loss: Systematic review — Welton S, Minty R, O'Driscoll T et al., 2020, systematic review
  6. Time-Restricted Eating in Adults With Metabolic Syndrome : A Randomized Controlled Trial — Manoogian ENC, Wilkinson MJ, O'Neal M et al., 2024, randomised controlled trial
  7. Effects of healthy low-carbohydrate diet and time-restricted eating on weight and gut microbiome in adults with overweight or obesity: Feeding RCT — Li L, Li R, Tian Q et al., 2024, randomised controlled trial
  8. Effect of Time-Restricted Eating on Weight Loss in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial — Pavlou V, Cienfuegos S, Lin S et al., 2023, randomised controlled trial
  9. Calorie Restriction with or without Time-Restricted Eating in Weight Loss — Liu D, Huang Y, Huang C et al., 2022, randomised controlled trial
  10. Effects of Time-Restricted Eating on Weight Loss and Other Metabolic Parameters in Women and Men With Overweight and Obesity: The TREAT Randomized Clinical Trial — Lowe DA, Wu N, Rohdin-Bibby L et al., 2020, randomised controlled trial
How much research is there on time restricted?
14 publications are indexed here, of which 6 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 2025. 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 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
  2. The Effect of Time-Restricted Eating Combined with Exercise on Body Composition and Metabolic Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Dai Z, Wan K, Miyashita M, et al. · Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 38897385Full text
  3. A meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of alternate day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating for weight loss Elortegui Pascual P, Rolands MR, Eldridge AL, et al. · Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2023 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 36349432Full text
  4. Intermittent Fasting and Obesity-Related Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses of Randomized Clinical Trials Patikorn C, Roubal K, Veettil SK, et al. · JAMA network open · 2021 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 34919135Full text
  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. Effects of healthy low-carbohydrate diet and time-restricted eating on weight and gut microbiome in adults with overweight or obesity: Feeding RCT Li L, Li R, Tian Q, et al. · Cell reports. Medicine · 2024 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 39454570Full text
  7. Time-Restricted Eating in Adults With Metabolic Syndrome : A Randomized Controlled Trial Manoogian ENC, Wilkinson MJ, O'Neal M, et al. · Annals of internal medicine · 2024 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 39348690Full text
  8. Effect of Time-Restricted Eating on Weight Loss in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial Pavlou V, Cienfuegos S, Lin S, et al. · JAMA network open · 2023 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 37889487Full text
  9. Calorie Restriction with or without Time-Restricted Eating in Weight Loss Liu D, Huang Y, Huang C, et al. · The New England journal of medicine · 2022 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 35443107
  10. Effects of Time-Restricted Eating on Weight Loss and Other Metabolic Parameters in Women and Men With Overweight and Obesity: The TREAT Randomized Clinical Trial Lowe DA, Wu N, Rohdin-Bibby L, et al. · JAMA internal medicine · 2020 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 32986097Full text
  11. Time-Restricted Eating, Intermittent Fasting, and Fasting-Mimicking Diets in Weight Loss Fanti M, Mishra A, Longo VD, et al. · Current obesity reports · 2021 · Review DOIPubMed 33512641
  12. Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes Sutton EF, Beyl R, Early KS, et al. · Cell metabolism · 2018 · Clinical trial DOIPubMed 29754952Full text
  13. Circadian rhythms, time-restricted feeding, and healthy aging Manoogian ENC, Panda S · Ageing research reviews · 2017 · Review DOIPubMed 28017879Full text
  14. Fasting, Circadian Rhythms, and Time-Restricted Feeding in Healthy Lifespan Longo VD, Panda S · Cell metabolism · 2016 · Review DOIPubMed 27304506Full text