Cited by 806Dietary Effects on HealthNutritional Studies and DietRegulation of Appetite and Obesity

The effects of intermittent or continuous energy restriction on weight loss and metabolic disease risk markers: a randomized trial in young overweight women

Open access
Harvie, M N, Pegington, M, Mattson, M P, Frystyk, J, Dillon, B, Evans, G, Cuzick, J, Jebb, S A +8 more·2011·International Journal of Obesity

Abstract

Background The problems of adherence to energy restriction in humans are well known.Objective To compare the feasibility and effectiveness of intermittent continuous energy (IER) with continuous energy restriction (CER) for weight loss, insulin sensitivity and other metabolic disease risk markers.Design Randomized comparison of a 25% energy restriction as IER (∼ 2710 kJ/day for 2 days/week) or CER (∼ 6276 kJ/day for 7 days/week) in 107 overweight or obese (mean (± s.d.) body mass index 30.6 (± 5.1) kg m(-2)) premenopausal women observed over a period of 6 months. Weight, anthropometry, biomarkers for breast cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia risk; insulin resistance (HOMA), oxidative stress markers, leptin, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding proteins 1 and 2, androgens, prolactin, inflammatory markers (high sensitivity C-reactive protein and sialic acid), lipids, blood pressure and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were assessed at baseline and after 1, 3 and 6 months.Results Last observation carried forward analysis showed that IER and CER are equally effective for weight loss: mean (95% confidence interval ) weight change for IER was -6.4 (-7.9 to -4.8) kg vs -5.6 (-6.9 to -4.4) kg for CER (P-value for difference between groups = 0.4). Both groups experienced comparable reductions in leptin, free androgen index, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increases in sex hormone binding globulin, IGF binding proteins 1 and 2. Reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance were modest in both groups, but greater with IER than with CER; difference between groups for fasting insulin was -1.2 (-1.4 to -1.0) μU ml(-1) and for insulin resistance was -1.2 (-1.5 to -1.0) μU mmol(-1) l(-1) (both P = 0.04).Conclusion IER is as effective as CER with regard to weight loss, insulin sensitivity and other health biomarkers, and may be offered as an alternative equivalent to CER for weight loss and reducing disease risk.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/ijo.2010.171

Cites

73 of 73 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Two studies showed that intermittent continuous energy restriction (IER) was a similarly effective alternative to continuous energy restriction (CER) regarding weight loss.

    “Two studies showed that intermittent continuous energy restriction (IER) was a similarly effective alternative to continuous energy restriction (CER) regarding weight loss [353,354].”
  • A number of fasting regimens are asserting themselves as suitable strategies, among them the alternate day fasting diet, the '5:2' intermittent fasting diet, and a 48-hour fast once or twice each month.

    “A number of fasting regimens are asserting themselves as suitable strategies, among them the alternate day fasting diet (Johnson et al., 2007; Varady et al., 2009), the ‘5:2’ intermittent fasting diet (Harvie et al., 2011), and a 48-hour fast once or twice each month.”

    From The Search for Antiaging Interventions: From Elixirs to Fasting Regimens (2014) · cites this paper as Harvie et al., 2011

  • Marked reduction of metabolic disease markers, such as high blood pressure or levels of circulating IGF1 and C-reactive protein, has been reported in overweight women that were subjected to a 2-day per week fast over 6 months.

    “Marked reduction of metabolic disease markers, such as high blood pressure or levels of circulating IGF1 and C-reactive protein, has been reported in overweight women that were subjected to a 2-day per week fast over 6 months (Harvie et al., 2011).”

    From The Search for Antiaging Interventions: From Elixirs to Fasting Regimens (2014) · cites this paper as Harvie et al., 2011

  • Several periodic fasting strategies revert features of metabolic syndrome in overweight and obese subjects, which coincide with increases in insulin sensitivity and lipolytic activity.

    “Several periodic fasting strategies revert features of metabolic syndrome in overweight and obese subjects, which coincide with increases in insulin sensitivity and lipolytic activity (Harvie et al., 2011; Heilbronn et al., 2005; Varady et al., 2009).”

    From The Search for Antiaging Interventions: From Elixirs to Fasting Regimens (2014) · cites this paper as Harvie et al., 2011

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Harvie, M. N., Pegington, M., Mattson, M. P., Frystyk, J., Dillon, B., Evans, G., Cuzick, J., Jebb, S. A., Martin, B., Cutler, R. G., Son, T. G., Maudsley, S., Carlson, O. D., Egan, J. M., Flyvbjerg, A., & Howell, A.
Affiliations
  • National Institute on Aging (US)
  • Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
  • Queen Mary University of London (GB)
  • MRC Elsie Widdowson Laboratory (GB)
Corresponding author
Harvie, M N
Venue
International Journal of Obesity
Published
2010-10-05
Volume
35
Issue
5
Pages
714-727
ISSN
  • 0307-0565 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-5497
OpenAlex
W2007060126
Cited by
804
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 40 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 87 · 2021: 109 · 2020: 86 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 17
FWCI
9.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • International Journal of Obesity (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (Z01AG000315)
  • H2020 European Research Council
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Dietary Effects on Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
Keywords
intermittent energy restriction, continuous energy restriction, weight loss, insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity, overweight women, leptin, adiponectin, IGF binding proteins, C-reactive protein, inflammation, serum lipids, blood pressure, breast cancer risk, diabetes risk, cardiovascular risk, dementia risk, dietary adherence, sex hormones, brain-derived neurotrophic factor
MeSH terms
Adult, Breast Neoplasms, Cardiovascular Diseases, Feasibility Studies, Female, Humans, Insulin Resistance, Middle Aged, Patient Compliance, Risk Factors, Biomarkers, Weight Loss, Metabolic Syndrome, Caloric Restriction, Overweight

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review