What Midlife Women Should Know About Intermittent Fasting

But several factors determine whether IF is appropriate for women over 40.

IF eating plans are not the magic bullets some influencers tout them to be online. Still, research on intermittent fasting in adults (both men and women) has shown that they may facilitate moderate weight loss, although evidence is mixed.

A major reason for these discrepancies in findings is that most of the current research on intermittent fasting evaluated only a small number of people and didn’t follow them for long, says Ellen Liskov, RDN, a nutrition specialist at Yale New Haven Hospital Center for Nutrition and Wellness in Connecticut. “These studies are not conclusive enough to say that intermittent fasting is a dietary plan that all people should employ,” she says.

Liskov says that for those who want to try IF, she favors a time-restricted eating plan known as 12:12, where food is eaten for half the day, generally between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. “This pattern of eating has helped many people lower their energy intakes, lose weight, and reduce the amount of unhealthy nutrients eaten,” she says, based on her clinical experience. A key reason, she said, is that many people eat healthy foods during the day but then devolve to snacks of sweets and chips before bedtime.

It’s important to be sure you’re eating healthy foods during the eating window, rather than filling up on nutritionally empty calories, says Carol Roberts, MD, a functional medicine physician in Sarasota, Florida, who recommends IF to some of her patients. “If you’re on a junk food diet, it’s not going to be good for you to eat for fewer hours. Better food selection is also important,” she says.

To work long-term, an IF eating plan has to mesh with your lifestyle, experts say. If you regularly go out socially for breakfast or eat dinner late at night, for example, trying to fast during these times is not sustainable.

While some people may benefit from an IF eating plan, you may want to choose an alternative option depending on your goals. “If you're looking for a diet that’s more balanced and less restrictive, I’d choose a Mediterranean type of diet instead,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, the author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You From Label to Table.

Mary Claire Haver, MD, the obstetrician-gynecologist who created the Galveston diet, suggests women who want to try IF ease into it, such as by pushing the morning mealtime back every few days until it’s finally close to noon.

Dr. Roberts says IF dieters aiming for a 16:8 schedule can have a beverage in the morning. “A cup of black coffee goes a long way toward keeping people happy in the morning,” she says, adding that for most individuals on this plan, the hardest part is not to snack at night.

• Intermittent fasting involves eating for a certain number of hours in a day and restricting calories in others or picking one to three non-sequential days during the week when they eat minimally, if at all.
• Some research suggests intermittent fasting may help with weight loss around menopause, but evidence is mixed and shows benefits are similar to traditional calorie-cutting diets.
• Intermittent fasting is not for everyone and isn’t recommended for people with a history of disordered eating, a BMI below 18.5, or people who need to take medication with food.
• Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before trying intermittent fasting to better understand if it’s right for you and learn how to incorporate it into your lifestyle in a healthy way.