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The study run for 3 months and people were under calorie deficit, which is typical time scale when the lean mass starts to shrink.

In general intermittent fast is not a good way to loose fat precisely for this point. In Russia there are fasting resorts where people do not eat for 2-3 weeks under medical supervision. Most people do it not to loose weight but try to improve various medical conditions. Those who go there for weight loss typically gain the weight back since they do not change their eating habits.

As for bodybuilders they do intermittent fasting but not to loose fat but to gain muscles. For some people this works as long as they eat sufficient calories.