When Krista Varady, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois, Chicago, began studying intermittent fasting 20 years ago, she couldn’t wait for this way of eating to become mainstream.
Then in 2012, Varady got her wish. The popularity of intermittent fasting—a way of eating that involves switching between fasting and eating on a regular schedule—exploded with Michael Mosley’s television documentary Eat Fast, Live Longer, his book The Fast Diet, and Kate Harrison’s book that same year, The 5:2 Diet.
After the initial wave of excitement and sometimes overblown claims that intermittent fasting can reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and prevent chronic disease, the backlash began. In the last few years, professionals in the health and fitness industry began to sound the alarm, saying women should avoid intermittent fasting because it causes fertility issues, disrupts menstrual cycles, and interferes with sleep.
But Varady says the science doesn’t support these claims.
“We’ve done about 30 clinical trials in intermittent fasting, and about 85 percent of our samples are women,” she says….
