Thread by @DrBSteamjets

(1/n) Our #IntermittentFasting paper stimulated some healthy discourse but it seems many are sold on IF and wanted different results. Sorry if the findings are hard to hear; I expected IF to come out better but we must follow the evidence where it leads...
stm.sciencemag.org/content/13/598…

(2/n) ...this research was a labour of love but is complex and imperfect - there is plenty we could or should have done differently. Sadly, some who advocate or sell IF want to ignore what can be learnt from this study by discrediting the work and even those who conducted it...

(3/n) ...here is list of common criticisms that may have some validity but have also been presented by some in a naive or intellectually lazy manner:
-Not 'real' fasting (i.e. validity?)
-Not overweight (i.e. BMI <25 kg/m2)
-Not 'large' (i.e. n=36)
-Not honest (i.e. funding)

(4/n) NOT REAL FASTING (i.e. the study diets are not what people actually do). We could have used less extreme diets but that would answer different questions. This study used 24h fasting then eating double, so is obviously proof-of-principle and not an approach we are selling...

(5/n) NOT OVERWEIGHT (i.e. why study weight loss in lean people?). Many people with a BMI below 25 kg/m2 still have excess fat they would like to lose and try diets/IF. It is important to understand both physiology & pathophysiology, so we repeat this study in overweight people

(6/n) NOT 'LARGE (i.e. the study is 'small'). The appropriate size for a study depends on many factors. Here, the standard diet group lost 1 kg more body fat than the IF group in 3 weeks (p=0.01). Is it ethical to test hundreds when we have a meaningful answer with n=36?

(7/n) NOT HONEST (i.e. the study was funded by industry to show fasting does not work). This is curious since this study WAS NOT funded by industry & shows fasting DOES work. Even so, those declaring funding can have integrity, whereas the unfunded may still be selling something

(8/7) bonus tweet - NOT AUSTRALIAN (see pic). Admittedly this critique is more common amongst Daily Mail readers, who seem only to take diet advice from Australian Experts. Full disclosure: none of our team is Australian but my wife was born there and she said our study is ok 👍