AUTHOR=Lin Xiaoxiao , Wu Guomin , Huang Jinyu 

TITLE=The impacts of Ramadan fasting for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): a systematic review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1315408

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2023.1315408

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Numerous studies have explored the impacts of Ramadan fasting on Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to analyze and summarize all clinical studies regarding the impacts of Ramadan fasting for patients with NAFLD.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We performed a comprehensive search of the Embase, Cochrane, and PubMed databases from inception to September 1, 2023. All clinical studies concerning the impacts of Ramadan fasting on patients with NAFLD were included.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>In total, six studies with 397 NAFLD patients comprising five prospective studies and one retrospective study were included in the systematic review. All six studies were assessed as high-quality. Ramadan fasting may offer potential benefits for patients with NAFLD, including improvements in body weight, body composition, cardiometabolic risk factors, glucose profiles, liver parameters, and inflammation markers.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Ramadan fasting might be an effective dietary intervention for NAFLD. However, the number of studies examining the impacts of Ramadan fasting for patients with NAFLD is relatively limited. Therefore, more high-quality research is needed to further our understanding of the benefits of Ramadan fasting for NAFLD.</p></sec><sec><title>Systematic review registration</title><p><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://inplasy.com/" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://inplasy.com</ext-link>, identifier 202390102.</p></sec>