ADF · Every-Other-Day Protocol
Fast every other day. Strong cardiovascular data, hard to sustain long-term.
The Fasting Protocol Library
Fasting
Every protocol people follow, what the human trials show, and who each one is a bad idea for.
28 protocols, ordered below with the best evidenced first.
What the evidence looks like across all 28 protocols
More than half of this library rests on animal data or less. That is the finding, not a gap in the reading.
| Grade | protocols |
|---|---|
| 5Settled | 0 |
| 4Strong | 3 |
| 3Mixed | 7 |
| 2Thin | 13 |
| 1Untested | 5 |
3 protocols rest on strong human evidence. 18 rest on little or none. How we grade evidence.
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Early Time-Restricted Eating
The most metabolically powerful TRE variant. Eat early, finish by mid-afternoon.
When the Body Runs on Fat
The well-established shift from burning glucose to burning fat-derived ketones, the real metabolic engine of fasting.
Time-Restricted Eating · Ten-Hour Window
A gentle, sustainable middle ground, and the window with surprisingly strong metabolic-syndrome data.
Time-Restricted Eating · Leangains Protocol
The most practiced and most studied fasting protocol on earth. 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating.
Time-Restricted Eating · Six-Hour Window
A step deeper than 16:8. Six hours to eat, eighteen to fast, the autophagy onset zone.
The Fast Diet · Intermittent Energy Restriction
Five normal days, two days at 500 to 600 calories. Equivalent to daily dieting, easier to stick to.
Fasting-Mimicking Diet · 5-Day Protocol
Trick the body into fasting physiology while still eating. Real science, real conflict of interest.
The Muscle-Preserving Medical Fast
A medically designed fast that keeps protein high to protect muscle while driving rapid fat loss, effective but requiring supervision.
Dawn-to-Sunset Daily Fast
The world's largest annual fasting experiment. Dawn-to-sunset, food and water, for a lunar month.
Circadian Time-Restricted Eating
The gentlest protocol, and the floor of healthy eating. Twelve hours on, twelve off.
Eat-Stop-Eat · One Full Day
Dinner to dinner. One or two full-day fasts a week, the entry point to extended fasting.
Monk Fast · Day-Spanning Fast
Skip a full day of eating. Dinner to breakfast two days later, deep enough to matter.
Two-Day Water Fast
The midpoint of extended fasting. Deep ketosis, strong autophagy, manageable for many.
Three-Day Water Fast · Deep Autophagy Tier
At 72 hours, growth hormone surges 300%, autophagy peaks, and the immune system begins to reset.
The Cellular Recycling Process Behind the Hype
The cell's self-cleaning and recycling system, real, Nobel-winning science, and the single most overhyped word in fasting marketing.
The European Clinical Fasting Tradition
A century-old supervised European fasting method using small amounts of juice and broth, with the largest real-world safety record of any fast.
What Fasting Does (and Doesn't) Do for the Gut
The real digestive physiology behind fasting, gut motility and microbiome shifts, separated from "gut reset detox" marketing.
Fasting as Spiritual Discipline
The Buddhist monastic practice of not eating after midday, one of the world's oldest continuous time-restricted-eating traditions.
One Meal A Day · 23:1 Protocol
The most extreme daily fast. 23 hours off, one meal on. Simple, effective, and easy to do badly.
Lenten & Liturgical Fasting
A periodic plant-based fast practiced for centuries, with quietly strong cardiometabolic data.
20:4 · Undereat by Day, Feast by Night
The original modern long-fast template. Eat a little by day, feast in a four-hour window at night.
Prolonged Water-Only Fasting
Five to seven days, water only. Deep fasting territory that belongs under medical supervision.
Modified Fast · Broth-Only Protocol
Not a true fast. A low-calorie broth protocol that eases the experience while blunting some benefits.
Gradual / Non-Consecutive TRE
A gentler on-ramp, often recommended for women. Fast on only two or three non-consecutive days a week.
Absolute Fast · No Food or Water
No food and no water. Heavily promoted, poorly evidenced, and genuinely risky beyond a day.
Bulletproof-Style · Fat-Only Window
Add fat to extend a fast. Eases ketosis and hunger, but the "fat does not break a fast" claim is contested.
Juice Cleanse · Liquid-Only Protocol
Marketed as detox, delivered as a sugar load. The most commercially hyped, least fasting-like protocol.
No protocols match that combination. Choose another category, or show all 28.