Sources/Links
Sources:
Actual Study on Dokumen
This Popular Diet May Raise Your Heart Disease Death Risk by 135%, New Study Says
8-hour time-restricted eating linked to a 91% higher risk of cardiovascular death
Also of interest: Dr. John Ioannidis is a physician and a scientist, and in 2005 he wrote an essay titled, Why Most Published Research Findings Are False
20 years later, he says this is still true
Yet another interesting video on this topic
Summary
In this video, I address the viral news headlines from last year that claimed intermittent fasting—specifically eating in an 8-hour window—increases your risk of dying from heart disease by 91%. I explain why these scary headlines didn’t worry me at all after I looked at the actual methodology of the study.
I break down how the data was gathered: it relied on just two 24-hour recalls where participants were asked what they ate. This means the “intermittent fasting group” wasn’t actually a group of people practicing fasting on purpose for health; it was just anyone who happened to report eating in an 8-hour window on two specific days. I also discuss the difference between “relative risk” and “absolute risk,” showing that the actual statistics are far less frightening than the media portrays. Ultimately, I advocate for being a “study of one” and focusing on the real-world health improvements you experience personally.
Key Takeaways
- The “91% Risk” is Relative, Not Absolute: Headlines use large percentages to grab attention. In reality, the absolute risk difference between the groups was small (8.6% vs 3.6%), and over 91% of the people in the “at-risk” group did not die of heart disease.
- Flawed Methodology: The study relied on two 24-hour memory recalls spaced 3 to 10 days apart. It assumed that those two days represented a person’s lifelong eating habits, which is a massive leap.
- Who was actually studied?: The researchers didn’t study people practicing intermittent fasting or OMAD for health. They just looked at people who, for whatever reason (work, stress, etc.), ate in a short window on two particular days.
- The “Dirty Fasting” Difference: Under the study’s rules, even having coffee with half-and-half (which I do) would have excluded me from the “time-restricted” group because it counts as an “eating event.”
- Be a Study of One: Science often offers conflicting advice. The best way to know if a plan works is to run your own experiment and see how you feel and how your personal health markers respond.
The Laid Back Guide to Intermittent Fasting Workbook
