Intermittent Fasting: Does It Affect Sports Performance? A Systematic Review
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Conde Pipó, Javier; Mora Fernández, Agustín; Martínez Bebia, Manuel; Giménez Blasi, Nuria; López Moro, Alejandro; Latorre, José Antonio; Almendros-Ruiz, Antonio; Requena, Bernardo; Mariscal Arcas, MiguelEditorial
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Materia
Sport nutrition Athletic performance Fasting strategies
Date
2024-01-04Referencia bibliográfica
Conde-Pipó, J.; Mora-Fernandez, A.; Martinez-Bebia, M.; Gimenez-Blasi, N.; Lopez-Moro, A.; Latorre, J.A.; Almendros-Ruiz, A.; Requena, B.; Mariscal-Arcas, M. Intermittent Fasting: Does It Affect Sports Performance? A Systematic Review. Nutrients 2024, 16, 168. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16010168
Sponsorship
High Council for Sports (CSD), Spanish Ministry of Culture; Sport, through the NESA NETWORK “Spanish Network of Sports Care at Altitude (RADA)” Ref. 19/UPB/23; FPU grant from the Spanish Ministry of Universities (FPU20/00210)Abstract
Intermittent fasting is one of the most popular types of diet at the moment because it is an
effective nutritional strategy in terms of weight loss. The main objective of this review is to analyze
the effects that intermittent fasting has on sports performance. We analyzed physical capacities:
aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, strength, and power, as well as their effect on body composition.
For this, a bibliographic search was carried out in several databases where 25 research articles were
analyzed to clarify these objectives. Inclusion criteria: dates between 2013 and present, free full texts,
studies conducted in adult human athletes, English and/or Spanish languages, and if it has been
considered that intermittent fasting is mainly linked to sports practice and that this obtains a result in
terms of performance or physical capacities. This review was registered in PROSPERO with code
ref. 407024, and an evaluation of the quality or risk of bias was performed. After this analysis, results
were obtained regarding the improvement of body composition and the maintenance of muscle mass.
An influence of intermittent fasting on sports performance and body composition is observed. It
can be concluded that intermittent fasting provides benefits in terms of body composition without
reducing physical performance, maintenance of lean mass, and improvements in maximum power.
But despite this, it is necessary to carry out new studies focusing on the sports field since the samples
have been very varied. Additionally, the difference in hours of intermittent fasting should be studied,
especially in the case of overnight fasting.