If you're trying to lose weight and are overweight or obese, cutting calories just two days a week doesn’t work much better than cutting them every day — the difference is pretty small.

People who try intermittent fasting tend to lose a little more weight than those who just cut calories continuously, according to several studies.

Intermittent fasting might help people lose a little more weight than cutting calories the usual way, but the difference is so small it could just be due to chance — overall, both methods work about the same for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.

Skipping food two days a week (but not starving) for 3 months helps overweight people lose a bit of fat and weight, on average about 3.5% body fat and 2.8 kg.

People with metabolic syndrome who try intermittent fasting lose about 4 pounds on average after a few months, even without counting calories.

For adults who are overweight or obese, cutting calories all the time works about the same as fasting on and off when it comes to losing weight — both help lower BMI just as much in the short to medium term.