Impact of dietary fiber on body weight during 16/8 intermittent fasting

• Applicant: Dr. Beate Brandl
• Subject Area: Nutritional Sciences
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 503007488

Overweight and obesity are a major burden in modern societies, causing various metabolic dysfunctions. Guidelines recommend reduction of body weight for prevention. Among multiple strategies for losing body-weight, 16/8 interval fasting represents a non-restrictive method that allows normal eating during 8 hours of the day while fasting the other 16 h. Therefore, the sensation of hunger might compromise the success of the diet. The use of fibres in normal nutrition might support the maintenance of satiety for a longer time and might also support body weight maintenance after weight loss. In a double-blind, randomized intervention study, the benefit of fibres on satiety during a 16/8 intermittent fasting should be investigated. Although the satiety promoting effect of dietary fibres is well established, it is currently unknown if fibre-enriched foods support the adherence to nutritional regimens due to a longer sensation of hunger. Therefore, during a 16/8 intermittent fasting experiment, it should be studied whether fibre supplementation mediates the fasting success by prolonged satiety so that weight can be reduced and cardiovascular risk and risk of developing diabetes mellitus can be lowered.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants