Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

Short Wave

The truth about intermittent fasting

20 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 15.91 Unknown

This message comes from the BBC with its new podcast, The Interface. Every Thursday, three leading tech journalists explore how tech is rewiring your week and your world. Listen to The Interface on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

0

17.192 - 24.229 Regina G. Barber

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey Short Wavers, Regina Barber here.

0

Chapter 2: What is intermittent fasting and how does it work?

24.53 - 33.503 Regina G. Barber

And Rachel Carlson. And today we have our bi-weekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered. And today we have the legend, Mary Louise Kelly.

0

33.764 - 43.438 Mary Louise Kelly

Woohoo! I'm so excited to be here and excited because I hear one of the stories you brought is about running, which is like the only sport I can actually do. So I'm here for you.

0

44.259 - 49.427 Rachel Carlson

Yes, we're talking about running. Also, why intermittent fasting might not be a good weight loss solution.

0

49.66 - 54.889 Regina G. Barber

And rethinking how to protect people's mental health when they talk with a chatbot.

0

54.909 - 77.057 Rachel Carlson

All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. Okay, Mary Louise, where should we start?

77.077 - 89.902 Mary Louise Kelly

I want to hear all three of these. Okay, I have not had time to get lunch today, so I'm kind of doing intermittent fasting. Oh, no. So let's start there. This is, just to explain, this is where you restrict the times you eat, right, rather than what you eat?

90.262 - 104.452 Rachel Carlson

Yeah, so some people might fast every other day. Others might eat between the hours of 10 to 6, but do a 16-hour fast outside of that. The idea is that these short periods of fasting will cause your body to start burning through stored fat reserves.

105.093 - 126.445 Regina G. Barber

The issue is we don't have a big, long-range study on how it compares with other types of dieting. So an international team of scientists did the next best thing. They looked at 22 smaller studies that compared intermittent fasting to other dietary interventions like eating less or eating specific types of foods. They also compared intermittent fasting to doing nothing. And what did they find?

126.965 - 135.916 Rachel Carlson

They concluded that intermittent fasting did not work for weight loss in overweight or obese adults, as compared to either traditional dietary advice or even doing nothing.

Chapter 3: What does recent research say about intermittent fasting for weight loss?

452.558 - 456.942 Mary Louise Kelly

Where does this leave us? Do we think extreme exercise is dangerous?

0

457.158 - 479.231 Rachel Carlson

Well, Travis and the researchers do not know whether this extreme amount of exercise is bad. The study was very small. It only looked at 23 runners. And it doesn't tell us anything about the long-term impact of these kinds of races. And then more broadly, Travis says definitely do not stop doing regular exercise. It's the best tool we have to keep our bodies healthy and age well.

0

479.632 - 481.174 Mary Louise Kelly

Here's to keeping healthy and aging well.

0

483.027 - 489.517 Rachel Carlson

And Mary Louise, thank you so much for joining us today. It was my total pleasure as always.

0

489.658 - 490.719 Mary Louise Kelly

Looking forward to the next one.

495.347 - 513.229 Regina G. Barber

If you or someone you know is considering suicide or in crisis, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You can hear more of Mary Louise on Consider This and PR's afternoon podcast about what the news means for you.

514.152 - 528.502 Rachel Carlson

And for more science stories just like this one, follow Shortwave on whatever app you're listening to. I produced this episode with Jordan Marie Smith and Hannah Chin. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata, William Troop, and Rebecca Ramirez.

529.144 - 532.654 Regina G. Barber

Peter, Elena, and Jimmy Keeley were the audio engineers. I'm Regina Barber.

533.196 - 538.11 Rachel Carlson

And I'm Rachel Carlson. Thanks for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.