Apples to Apples

Three square meals a day vs. intermittent fasting? Which one wins? The answer is going to be really obvious, so let me drag this out for a moment.
 

Back in the 1950s, there were about 20 famous people. Everyone knew who they were. Now celebrity is so common that it’s impossible to keep track of who’s famous – let alone why they’re famous in the first place. In much the same way, a decade ago, something that went viral would have been seen by everyone. Double Rainbow, Charlie Bit My Finger, and Baby Shark (not linked for sanity purposes). Now, something can go mega-viral in one pocket of the internet and remain completely invisible to everyone else.

That’s part of what enables the epistemological crisis we’re in – where we not only disagree about the facts but about how anyone can know anything. A news-feed crammed full of some manufactured culture war item makes a person feel like their belief is obvious to anyone else with a pair of eyes. You can’t argue with them about anything because they no longer believe in anything. Not the scientific process. Not even commonly-agreed upon definitions of words (this actually happened to me). People are making decisions based on vibes. It’s complicated.
 

Ok, back to intermittent fasting thing...
 

A recent study did a pretty good job of comparing apples to apples. Or, more accurately, calories to calories. One group within an eight-hour window and one who ate within a 16-hour window (AKA Usual Eating Pattern). They both burned and consumed the same total calories per day. Or as close as reasonably possible.
 

Let's (finally) cut to the chase: they both did the same job. Both for weight loss and blood sugar. Actually, the Usual Eating Pattern group had a teeny edge.
 

To me this is interesting precisely because it’s so boring. One guy eats a sandwich for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Another guy skips breakfast, eats two sandwiches for lunch, and one for dinner. Should we expect some kind of miraculous difference?

If you ask intermittent fasting zealots, the answer will be yes. “Obviously.” You will hear words like insulin and autophagy. It will sound smart and convincing. Yet, sometimes, the best thing we can do is zoom out and imagine something boring and simple, like three sandwiches weighed against three sandwiches. The algorithm is not optimized for boring and simple. So, more and more, I suspect that’s where the truth will be hiding.