[tomxor]

This study is measuring the wrong thing. Any diet that restricts calories will cause weight loss, that's just physics not biology. So long as the person strictly sticks to that diet it will work.

Strategies like intermittent fasting or diets that moderate what you eat rather than quantity are focused on the later aspect "strictly sticking to that diet". Because being strict is not sustainable, will power is limited and inconsistent, so wasting it on strategies that are hard to stick to is both futile and a waste of will power. Changing what and when you eat accounts for biology instead of just physics, because those variables have a huge impact on satiety.

The study has a minimum interval of 4 weeks, which does not take much will power. Not to mention the psychological impact of being part of a study.