Taking a break from your diet can still help you lose weight, study finds

Many researchers have touted the benefits of interval fasting for weight loss , a practice popularized by celebrities such as Kourtney Kardashian and Jennifer Aniston.

Now, a randomized-controlled trial conducted by U.S. researchers adds to the discussion, finding that taking a break from dieting may not actually sabotage efforts to shed pounds.

The 12-week trial studied the health of 30 women living with obesity between the ages of 18 and 65.

During this period, all of the women were asked to cut their daily calorie intake by a quarter and consume around 1.2 grams of protein .

What was different between the women was the method of weight loss. Some of the women either restricted calories using intermittent fasting, while others had planned breaks in their diet and ate more calories on some days.

Ultimately, the women with the planned diet breaks were found to lose essentially the same amount of fat as the women who continuously restricted their calories.

Fat mass fell by 9.30 kilograms in the fasting group and 9.21 kilograms in the diet-breaking group, which was a statistically negligible difference.

“These results are consistent with current clinical guidelines and a substantial body of literature demonstrating that overall energy deficit, rather than the temporal pattern of restriction, is the primary determinant of fat loss,” the researchers wrote.

The findings build on February research from Rutgers University that showed intermittent fasting to be no better or worse than regular dieting after a review of dozens of past randomized controlled trials.

“The differences we found between the diets were statistically indistinguishable from zero,” Diane Rigassio Radler, a professor of clinical nutrition at the Rutgers School of Health Professions, explained in a release .

Limiting meals to a specific time does help curb hunger and lowers blood pressure, Harvard University researchers say.

Though women have reduced responses to fasting because of their hormones, according to the Cleveland Clinic .

“Fasting can make estrogen and progesterone take a nose-dive,” registered dietitian Julia Zumpano said.

Still, any reduction in calories can lead to weight loss, experts told The Independent in July.