Animal study · Nutrition · 9 Nov 2026
In obese mice, eight weeks of a 16:8 fasting schedule remodeled brown-fat mitochondria and raised energy expenditure
Source: Acta Physiologica
What the research found
Acta Physiologica published a mouse study on 9 November 2026. Fernanda Silva Carneiro and colleagues used a diet-induced obesity model and an 8-week 16:8 fasting schedule. Obesity lowered energy expenditure, raised body-weight gain, and changed brown-fat mitochondria toward smaller, rounder organelles with disrupted cristae. The fasting schedule raised energy expenditure, reduced body-weight gain and brown-fat adiposity, raised UCP1, and restored browning. It also shifted mitochondrial-dynamics markers, with longer mitochondria, longer cristae, and more aligned cristae, and it raised the maximum capacity of respiratory complexes. These are mice, not a fasting schedule for people. DOI 10.1111/apha.70337. Not medical advice.
Evidence level: Animal study. Results in animals or cells often don't carry over to people.
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