Mini-Fast With Exercise Clinical Trial Summary

See what science says about the effectiveness of the mini-fast with exercise program

The mini-fast with exercise was tested in a 2009 clinical trial and published in the journal Medical Hypotheses. Study volunteers met the following criteria:

• Average weight of 199 pounds
• BMI (body mass index) of 32.2 (30 and over is considered obese)
• Average waist circumference of 42.6 inches
• Average fasting insulin of 13.2 IU/mL (a level indicative of insulin resistance)

What the Study Participants Did

Participants were instructed on the program specifics:

• No food before noon
• Aerobic exercise while in the fasting state
• No other food restrictions besides a healthy diet throughout the remainder of the day (i.e., low-fat, low-glycemic foods)
• Most of the volunteers walked three to five days a week and built up to 45 minutes. On the days they did not exercise, they simply fasted until noon. They didn’t count calories and the researchers did not monitor their diets.

How They Fared

After 12 weeks, these folks lost an average of 16 pounds of fat (25 percent of their initial fat mass), plus three inches around the waist. The biggest losers were a man and woman who respectively lost an astonishing 44 and 31 pounds of fat! In addition, the group’s fasting insulin level fell by one-quarter, into the normal range.

Get more details by reading the study abstract.

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