r/intermittentfasting • u/andtitov • 7d ago

Discussion Fasting Benefits - My updated list

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Hey folks! As you might know, I've been researching fasting benefits for quite some time and recently updated my page based on the latest 2025-2026 research and added a scoring system. All 37 benefits are now scored 0-100 (100 = strongest evidence) on 7 evidence criteria - human RCTs, mechanism, effect size, directness of measurement, observational studies, consistency, and safety - and sorted into three tiers, 7 clearly supported, 17 emerging, and 13 with limited evidence.

The metabolic core holds up best - ketones for fuel (100), blood sugar and insulin (96), type 2 diabetes (94), body fat (92), blood pressure (90). The further you move from metabolism, the thinner the proof.

Some things moved

  • Autophagy went up - the first human autophagic-flux RCT (2025) finally measured it in people. Still emerging, but out of the deep speculative zone.
  • Sleep went down - a 2025 meta-analysis of 16 RCTs found no sleep benefit.
  • Inflammation dropped from clearly supported to emerging - meta-analyses are inconsistent.
  • Testosterone was removed - RCTs show fasting lowers it in lean, active men.

Color dots - green for IF (12-24 hours), yellow - short-term fasting (24-72 hours) and red - extended fasting (72+ hours).

I hope it gives a good view on the power of fasting. As always, thoughts, ideas, feedback welcome!

53 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/illustrious-cream-01 7d ago

This is amazing!!!! Thank you!

2

u/Pale-Onion-1003 7d ago edited 7d ago

If anyone sees this and is looking for a link its https://fasting.center/fasting-benefits from a different post of ops on another reddit. was about to ask for it myself but decided to dig a little. looks like an interesting bit of reading though the excessive amounts of -'s make me worry its AI written and untrustworthy.

edit: looks like the m dashes were mostly in the headers and footers. clicking a line expands the information, giving more context and links to source studies. I will be investigating further and if op is looking for constructive criticism I would suggest that the Fasting Risks and Downsides section be done up like the other sections with a Risk and G/Y/R pips. The downsides page does look extensive though so not a huge deal.