Fasting Lowered Liver Enzymes in Women With Menopause and Arthritis: What the Research Shows

Fasting Lowered Liver Enzymes in Women With Menopause and Arthritis: What the Research Shows

A small trial gave 44 postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis an 8-hour eating window each day for 8 weeks. The fasting group ended up with less cell damage, less inflammation, and better liver enzyme numbers than women who kept their normal diet. The study was too small to prove this works for everyone.

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: Whether eating only within an 8-hour window each day (16:8 fasting) could improve inflammation, antioxidant levels, and liver enzymes.
• Who did it: A. Tavakoli and colleagues at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, published in Scientific Reports in 2025.
• How many people: 44 postmenopausal women, all overweight or obese, all living with rheumatoid arthritis. Ages were not stated in the abstract.
• How long: 8 weeks.
• What happened: The fasting group had less cell damage, less inflammation, and better liver enzyme numbers than the comparison group.
• Read the study yourself: Scientific Reports 2025 →

What They Wanted to Find Out

Rheumatoid arthritis is a joint disease that causes ongoing inflammation. It is more common in women after menopause. Researchers in Iran wanted to know if simply changing when women ate — not what they ate — could ease that inflammation.

They tested a 16:8 pattern. That means eating only within an 8-hour window and fasting the other 16 hours. If you want to see how this works outside of arthritis, our menopause fasting research covers a similar group of women. Another team looked at Ramadan-style fasting and menopause hormones too.

Who Was in the Study

Who they were: All 44 women were past menopause. All were carrying extra weight, classed as overweight or obese. Every woman in the study also had rheumatoid arthritis. Exact ages were not stated in the abstract.

What the fasting actually looked like: The fasting group ate all their food inside an 8-hour window each day. For the other 16 hours, they did not eat. The abstract does not say what they were allowed to drink during the fasting hours.

What Happened

The fasting group ended up with less cell damage, less inflammation, and better liver numbers than the group that kept eating normally.

• Their oxidative stress marker — called malondialdehyde, a sign of cell damage — went down.
• An immune-cell ratio linked to inflammation, called the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, went down.
• Their catalase levels — an antioxidant their own body makes — went up.
• Their liver enzymes, called AST and ALT, both went down.
• The comparison group, who kept eating as usual, did not show these same changes.

What Did Not Change

• The abstract says most other markers they measured stayed similar between the two groups.
• Muscle mass was not measured in this study, so it cannot say whether fasting affected it.
• Body weight changes were not reported in the abstract.

What the Researchers Said

The researchers said the 8-hour eating window helped with some cell-damage markers, inflammation, and liver enzymes. They said fasting may be a useful add-on treatment for women with rheumatoid arthritis, alongside their usual care.

What This Means for You

• If you have rheumatoid arthritis: This small study suggests time-limited eating might ease some inflammation, but it is not a replacement for your prescribed treatment.
• If you are past menopause: This study was done only in postmenopausal women, so its findings speak directly to your age group — but not to younger women.
• If your liver enzymes run high: The fasting group here saw both liver enzymes go down, which is worth discussing with your doctor if this applies to you.
• If you are thinking about trying it: An 8-hour eating window is one of the easier fasting patterns to test — see our guide comparing 16:8 to other menopause studies.
• If you already have joint pain: Other fasting studies in arthritis, like this one on joint tenderness, found similar patterns worth reading together.

What This Study Could Not Tell Us

• It only had 44 people, which is a small number for drawing firm conclusions.
• It ran for just 8 weeks, so it cannot say what happens over a year or longer.
• Every woman in the study already had rheumatoid arthritis, so results may not apply to healthy women.
• The abstract does not say how many women were in each group, or their exact ages.
• The abstract does not name a funding source.

The Study Details

Tavakoli A, Akhgarjand C, Ansar H, Houjaghani H, Khormani A, Djafarian K, et al. (2025). The effects of intermittent fasting on antioxidant and inflammatory markers (signs of inflammation in the blood) and liver enzymes in postmenopausal, overweight and obese women with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized (people were put into groups at random) controlled trial. Scientific Reports. PMID: 39825120

Common Questions

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