Intermittent fasting for glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract Objective: to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of Intermittent Fasting (IF) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Method: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of IF intervention in T2DM were systematically searched from PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, MEDLINE and CNKI, and retrieval time was set from database onset to September 2024. A meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.3 software. Results: sixteen articles were included, with a total of 5369 patients. The meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, IF could improve patients' glycated hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, body weight, BMI, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, low density lipoprotein, and cholesterol levels (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in improving the levels of postprandial plasma glucose, high-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride levels compared to the control group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: IF may help people with T2DM manage their blood sugar levels effectively. In addition, IF can reduce body weight, reduce waist circumference, maintain stable blood pressure, and reduce low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol levels, and is considered safe and feasible to implement. However, more high-quality studies are needed to provide further evidence on the benefits of IF in improving other lipid levels.