NEW YORK, Feb 15 — There are countless diets and other methods designed to help people lose weight, but some seem to stand the test of time, and even stand out from the crowd. Such is the case with intermittent fasting, which has become the star of the field, ranking among the most popular diets on social media, despite its critics. The diet, which involves alternating periods of eating and fasting, has scored no fewer than 134,000 posts among French-speaking users on TikTok and Instagram, and the hashtag #intermittentfasting already has over two billion views on the Chinese social network.

Health authorities are constantly stressing that nothing beats a healthy, balanced diet, combined with regular exercise, to stay in good health and try to reverse the trend towards weight gain and obesity. But that doesn’t stop people looking for other ways to lose weight, whether to transform their figure or shed a few pounds ahead of the summer season or a specific event. And in this game, it’s intermittent fasting that seems to be winning over the French-speaking public in a big way, as revealed by a new study carried out by the telemedicine platform ZAVA. The latter looked at the most popular methods for losing weight, analysing raw data from TikTok and Instagram.

From fasting to chrononutrition

Despite criticism of its side effects, including hunger and mood swings, as well as its potential impact on female hormones, intermittent fasting seems to be a highly popular choice. According to the ZAVA study, it even ranks at the top of the most popular weight-loss methods among French-speaking users on social networks. As of February 6, the diet had generated no fewer than 134,767 posts on Instagram and TikTok, and over two billion views for the dedicated hashtag on the Chinese platform. A global success — or almost — echoing a recent study reporting its immense popularity in the US.

For those who are not yet familiar with intermittent fasting, this diet involves alternating periods of eating and fasting, spread over defined time slots. There are, however, sub-categories of fasting, such as the 5:2 method, which allow you to vary the number of hours during which food intake is limited or nil, according to your needs. While the method is still the subject of debate, a study by US researchers has highlighted the potential effectiveness of this diet for weight loss, albeit in combination with physical exercise. In any case, it’s best to talk to a health professional before starting any such diet, regardless of its popularity on social networks.

The Mediterranean diet lags behind

According to the analysis, the second most popular diet among French-speaking social media users is chrononutrition, which is based on the same principle. In fact, it is a diet based on the biological clock, with specific foods to be eaten at specific times. The study reports over 113,000 hashtag posts on TikTok and Instagram, and several tens of millions of views when looking at these terms in French and English on the Chinese social network. Other popular methods include the ketogenic diet (89,564 posts), intuitive eating (81,230 posts), calorie deficit (45,684 posts), low glycemic index diet (21,690 posts) and the Dukan diet (20,873 posts).

It’s worth noting that the Mediterranean diet, whose health benefits are frequently highlighted by scientists, comes in at the bottom of this ranking, with ‘only’ 5,249 cumulative posts on the two social networks. From its effects on passive smoking to its benefits for the brain and heart, researchers are full of praise for this diet known the world over. But it could be that for social network users, weight loss isn’t necessarily synonymous with health, and that they prefer to shed pounds, and quickly if possible, to the detriment of nutritional recommendations designed to act over the very long term. — ETX Studio

*ZAVA conducted a study to identify the weight loss methods most commonly searched for by French-speaking social media users. These terms were then used to explore relevant hashtags via the TikTok and Instagram search bar. The popularity of these hashtags was evaluated according to the number of associated posts. Hashtags related to the same topic were grouped together to obtain a total number of posts for each.