Table 1.

Cohort characteristics.

References	Country	Design	Mode of intervention	Subjects	Sex	Age		Duration	Type	Outcomes
				T/C	M/F	T	C
Aliasghari et al. (12)	Iran	Comparative, double arm	Ramadan fasting, 15–16 h a day	42/41	57/26	37.59 (7.06)	35.80 (7.33)	30 d	Religious	BW, BMI, WC, FBS/GLU, HOMA-IR, FINS
			Non-fasting
Cai et al. (13)	China	RCT	Time-restricted feeding, 16 h a day	95/79	29/66	35.52 (5.48)	34.54 (6.96)	12 week	Modern	BW, BMI, WC, FBS/GLU, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, liver stiffness
			Non-fasting
Cai et al. (13)*	China	RCT	Alternate-day fasting, 22 h a day	90/79	35/60	35.52 (5.48)	34.54 (6.96)	12 week	Modern	BW, BMI, WC, FBS/GLU, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, liver stiffness
			Non-fasting
Mari et al. (16)	Israel	Comparative, double arm	Ramadan fasting, 15–16 h a day	74/81	81/74	51.8 (20.9)	52.6 (19.3)	30 d	Religious	BMI, HOMA-IR, FINS, ALT, AST
			Non-fasting
Rahimi et al. (17)	Iran	Comparative, double arm	Ramadan fasting, 15–16 h a day	34/26	39/21	46.03 (11.72)	49.58 (10.96)	30 d	Religious	BW, BMI
			Non-fasting
Ebrahimi et al. (14)	Iran	Comparative, double arm	Ramadan fasting, 15–16 h a day	42/41	57/26	37.59 (7.06)	35.80 (7.33)	30 d	Religious	TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C
			Non-fasting
Johari et al. (15)	Malaysia	RCT	Modified alternate-day calorie restriction, 18 h alternate-day	33/10	33/10	45.33 (10.77)	52.60 (12.03)	8 w	Modern	BW, BMI, ALT, AST, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C
			Non-fasting

T, treatment; C, control; RCT, randomized controlled trial; M, male; F, female.

^*This study has two fasting intervention groups.