It was hugely popular for a minute there, diet industry grifters have written books and made influencer cOnTeNt about it, it is less popular now but still talked about, it’s repackaged old advice, will probably fall totally out of fashion when enough trendy “new” diets replace it. I’d certainly call it a fad diet.
See you’ve described the keto diet there but I’ve known people practising intermittent fasting of just skipping breakfast or having a yoghurt drink and saying they feel great.
Doctors say it’s fine and unlike keto it provides consistent results provided you keep up with it vs dropping weight and then gaining it straight like most fad diets do.
I think intermittent fasting feels more a dietary routine/choice vs a intentional diet focused on specifically losing weight and I certainly don’t think it’s a fad just cos some infulencers jumped on it.
Plenty of doctors say keto is fine. Doctors frankly give shitty dietary advice and will in fact praise disordered eating behavior in fat people if it results in weight loss.
IF does meet the criteria of a fad diet. Agree to disagree there.
It works for some people. It triggers disordered eating in some people. Some people find it difficult to stick to longterm. These statements are true of all diets. IF is no exception.
Edited to add: you said unlike other diets, IF keeps working provided you keep up with it. You have in fact just described all diets. They all work until you stop doing them. And most people stop doing them because they aren’t really sustainable long-term. IF is not an exception here. It is perhaps easier to sustain for longer than keto, but having strict rules about what times you can eat is not sustainable for most people long-term.
