Intermittent Fasting: A Heart Healthy Dietary Pattern?

Dietary patterns, such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and the Mediterranean diet, have been shown to improve cardiac health. Intermittent fasting is another type of popular dietary pattern that is based upon timed periods of fasting. Two different regimens are Alternative Day Fasting and Time-Restricted Eating. Although there are no large, randomized control trials examining the relationship between intermittent fasting and cardiovascular outcomes, current human studies that suggest this diet could reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease with improvement in weight control, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes.