Combining Fasting With Interval Workouts Helped Women Over 50 Get Fitter, Trial Finds: What the Research Shows

Combining Fasting With Interval Workouts Helped Women Over 50 Get Fitter, Trial Finds: What the Research Shows

Yes — in a 2025 trial, fasting plus short, hard interval workouts helped postmenopausal women get fitter than dieting alone. The fasting group gained more heart fitness and endurance over 8 weeks than the diet group. Both groups lost body fat, and neither group showed signs of losing muscle.

Medical disclaimer: This article summarises published research for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for guidance from a qualified health professional. Always consult your doctor before starting any fasting protocol, especially if you have an existing health condition or take medication.

The Short Version

• What they tested: Eating only during part of the day, plus short hard workouts, versus just eating less all day.
• Who did it: Anna A. Valenzano and colleagues at the University of Foggia, Italy, published in Nutrients in 2025.
• How many people: 30 people, all women, past menopause (average age around 57).
• How long: 8 weeks.
• What happened: The fasting group gained more fitness and endurance than the diet group.
• Read the study yourself: Nutrients 2025 →

What They Wanted to Find Out

After menopause, women's bodies tend to store more fat. Muscle can also disappear faster. Researchers wanted to know if fasting could help with this, not just dieting. They tested a plan where women only ate during part of the day.

The rest of the time, they skipped food. Would pairing that with hard, short workouts beat simply eating less food all day?

This matters for anyone reading our guide on intermittent fasting for women over 50. It also matters for readers asking how fasting affects women over 40. Most fasting studies are still done on younger or mixed-sex groups.

Who Was in the Study

Who they were: All 30 women were past menopause — their periods had stopped for good. Their average age was about 57. This makes the study directly about the "women over 50" age group, not younger women or men.

What the fasting actually looked like: Women in the fasting group ate their meals inside part of the day. They had no food outside that window.

Both groups did the same short, hard exercise plan — bursts of intense effort with rest in between, sometimes called HIIT. That ran for 8 weeks in both groups. So exercise was not what set the groups apart. The food plan was.

What Happened

The fasting-plus-exercise group built more fitness and endurance than the diet-plus-exercise group.

• Both groups lost body fat over the 8 weeks. Fasting was not the only path to fat loss here.
• The fasting group showed a bigger jump in heart-fitness numbers than the diet group. The researchers said this gap was unlikely to be chance.
• A hormone called orexin-A affects hunger, energy, and motivation to move. It appears to have risen more in the fasting group than the diet group.
• Grip strength and how far the women could walk in 6 minutes were both checked. These are simple ways of measuring everyday strength and stamina.

What Did Not Change

• The summaries of this study available to us do not report any loss of muscle in either group.
• Both groups kept doing the same workouts throughout. Only the eating plan was different between the two groups.

What the Researchers Said

The researchers concluded that pairing fasting with hard, short workouts helps fitness and body shape in women past menopause. They suggested this combination may work partly through hunger-and-energy hormones like orexin-A.

What This Means for You

• If you're past menopause, this study speaks directly to you. Every single person in it was a postmenopausal woman. That is rare in fasting research.
• Pairing fasting with short, hard workouts may beat dieting alone for fitness. The fasting group gained more endurance than the diet-only comparison group.
• You don't have to choose between losing fat and eating less all day. Both approaches led to fat loss here. Fasting was the extra edge for fitness, not the only way to lose weight.
• No sign of muscle loss showed up in what we could review. Losing muscle while fasting is a common worry for women. This study gives no evidence that it happened here.
• This was a small, short study. Do not expect guaranteed results. Treat it as an early clue, not a final answer, especially if you are over 50.
• Talk to your doctor before combining fasting with hard exercise, especially around menopause when energy needs can shift. See our best fasting schedule for menopause for a gentler starting point.

What This Study Could Not Tell Us

• It only included 30 women, so a bigger study is needed before we can be fully sure.
• It ran for just 8 weeks. It cannot say what happens after 6 months or a year.
• It was done in one group of postmenopausal women in Italy. Results may differ elsewhere.
• The exact daily fasting hours were not stated in the summaries we could access.
• The precise amount of fat or muscle change was also not available to us.
• Who paid for this study was not stated in the sources we could review.

The Study Details

Valenzano, A. A., Vasco, P., D'Orsi, G., Marzovillo, R. R. R., Torquato, M., Messina, G., Polito, R., & Cibelli, G. (2025). Influence of intermittent fasting on body composition, physical performance, and the orexinergic system in postmenopausal women: A pilot study. Nutrients, 17(7), 1121. Read it on PubMed Central →

Common Questions

Does intermittent fasting work for women over 50?

This small trial found that women over 50 who fasted and did short, hard workouts gained more fitness. They did better than women who only dieted and did the same workouts. It is one study of 30 women, so it is a promising clue, not proof.

Is intermittent fasting safe after menopause?

This study did not report safety problems in its 30 postmenopausal women over 8 weeks. Still, always check with your doctor first. Energy needs and health risks can shift after menopause.

Will intermittent fasting make me lose muscle after 50?

The summaries of this study we could review reported no muscle loss in either group. Losing muscle is a common worry with fasting. This small study did not find evidence of it.

What kind of exercise did the women do with fasting in this study?

Both groups did the same short, hard workout plan. That means bursts of intense effort with rest in between. Only the eating plan differed between the two groups.

Is fasting or a low-calorie diet better for women over 50?

In this study, both fasting and a low-calorie diet led to fat loss with the same exercise plan. Fasting pulled ahead on fitness and endurance gains, the researchers found.

More Research Like This

• Does time-restricted eating change women's hormones?
• Early time-restricted eating and muscle in women
• Intermittent fasting and ovarian reserve in women
• Intermittent fasting for women over 50: what actually works
• How does intermittent fasting affect women over 40?
• Best fasting schedule for menopause
• Postmenopausal weight gain and fasting

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