What Is Dr. Kermani's Fasting Diet? Iran's Most-Searched Fasting Plan Explained

"Dr. Kermani's fasting diet" is the name Iranians give to the time-restricted eating plans sold through Dr. Kermani's popular online nutrition service. It is not a secret protocol. It is a calorie-controlled Persian meal plan wrapped around a fixed eating window — most often 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating — with portions personalised to your weight and goal.

Why This Matters

Every month, roughly 1,600 people in Iran type this exact phrase into Google. That number tells you something important: Iranians are not searching for fasting in the abstract. They are searching for fasting that fits Persian food, Persian meal times, and a plan that someone they already trust has put together.

That instinct is right. The hardest part of intermittent fasting is never the science — it is making it survive contact with real life: a late family dinner, a bowl of ash reshteh, tea with sugar cubes at 5 p.m., Ramadan, and a work schedule that pushes your first meal to noon anyway.

But it also creates a trap. When a plan carries a famous name, people follow it without understanding the mechanism. Then they hit a plateau, or the plan ends, and they have no idea what to change — because they never learned which part was doing the work.

This article explains exactly that: which parts of a Kermani-style fasting plan actually drive the results, and how to run the same system yourself.

What a Kermani-Style Fasting Plan Actually Contains

There is no single published protocol under this name. The platform is built on personalised plans — you enter your height, weight, age, activity level and goal, and you receive a menu. The fasting versions of those menus consistently share four features, and every one of them is well supported by research.

1. A fixed eating window. Almost always 16:8 — you eat between roughly 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., and drink only water, unsweetened tea or black coffee outside it. This is standard time-restricted eating, the most studied and most sustainable protocol for beginners. If you are new to it, our beginner's guide to choosing a fasting protocol walks through how to pick your window.

2. A calorie target underneath the window. This is the part people miss. The eating window is a tool for eating less without counting every bite, but the plans still set a daily calorie figure, usually a 300–600 kcal deficit. Fasting does not override energy balance. It makes a deficit easier to hold. We covered this in detail in do calories still matter on intermittent fasting.

3. Protein-first Persian meals. The menus keep familiar foods — kashk-e bademjan, grilled kabab, lentil dishes, yoghurt, fresh herbs — but shift the ratio: more protein, more vegetables, far less white rice and bread. Protein protects muscle during weight loss and blunts hunger during the fasting hours. Trials consistently show that people eating around 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight lose more fat and less muscle than those eating half that.

4. Structured re-feeding after the fast. Breaking a 16-hour fast on sweet tea and bread spikes blood sugar and restarts hunger within the hour. Well-built plans open the window with protein and fat first, carbohydrates second.

Strip the branding away and you are left with the same architecture used in every credible time-restricted eating trial. That is good news twice over: it means the results are real, and it means you can reproduce them without a subscription.

Practical Tips

Start at 14:10, not 16:8. Push breakfast back by one hour each week. Most people who quit fasting quit in week one, because they jumped straight to a 16-hour fast.
Anchor the window to dinner, not breakfast. In Iranian households dinner is social and late. Set your window as 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. so family meals stay inside it.
Do not drink sweetened tea during the fast. Two sugar cubes will not ruin your week, but they do end the fasted state. Plain tea and black coffee are fine.
Weigh yourself weekly, not daily. Salt from Persian stews and pickles swings water weight by 1–2 kg overnight and destroys motivation for no real reason.
Break the fast the traditional way, then eat properly. Dates and water are an excellent opener — see breaking your fast with dates — but follow them with protein within twenty minutes.
Have a plan for Ramadan. Ramadan is already a fasting schedule. Do not stack a second protocol on top of it; switch to the sunset-to-sunrise window and return afterwards.

Get the Complete Guide

For the complete intermittent fasting guide, get Intermittent Fasting in Practice on Amazon — and claim 3 months free on our fasting app at fastinginpractice.com/redeem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this style of fasting diet safe?

Time-restricted eating is safe for most healthy adults. It is not appropriate during pregnancy or breastfeeding, for anyone with a history of disordered eating, for people under 18, or for anyone taking insulin or sulfonylurea medication without medical supervision, because of the risk of low blood sugar. Talk to your doctor first if any of these apply to you.

How much weight can I realistically lose?

Around 0.5–1 kg per week at the start, slowing to roughly 0.5 kg as you get lighter. Published trials of 16:8 eating typically show 3–8 percent bodyweight loss over 8–12 weeks. Anything advertised far above that is water and muscle, not fat.

Can I follow the same plan without paying for a subscription?

Yes. The three levers are the eating window, a modest calorie deficit, and protein at every meal. A paid plan mainly buys you a ready-made menu and accountability — both genuinely useful, neither magic. Our 16:8 meal plan gives you the same framework for free.

Why did I stop losing weight after the first month?

Almost always because calories crept back up inside the window, or because your maintenance needs fell as you got lighter. Re-measure your portions for one week before you change your fasting hours. Extending the fast is the last lever to pull, not the first.

What Is Dr. Kermani's Fasting Diet? Iran's Most-Searched Fasting Plan Explained