The effects of intermittent fasting on inflammation 🔥

A clinically relevant meta-analysis.

Aug 18, 2025

Study Details

This new meta-analysis compiled data from 21 studies (839 participants) to establish the effects of intermittent fasting on markers of inflammation 📚

Here are the key findings ⬇️

Key Findings

Compared to control diets, intermittent fasting led to significantly lowered…

🩸TNF-α

🩸 CRP

🩸 Leptin

But it did not significantly affect IL-6 or adiponectin ❌

Time-restricted eating (e.g. 16:8) appears to be the most effective method of fasting for improvements across inflammatory markers ⏰

Apart from the 5:2 diet which was best for CRP outcomes 🗓️

Conclusion

Intermittent fasting (particularly time-restricted eating) may be an effective dietary therapy for improving some inflammatory markers ✅

Whilst this may have benefits in clinical settings, I’d suggest that applications to active individuals / athletes are limited‼️

Cases where controlling inflammation in athletes is warranted could be during recovery / injury rehab 🔍

In both of these cases, achieving energy balance and regularly consuming high-quality nutrients (throughout the day) are likely a more beneficial approach ✅

Reference

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40805975/

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