9 Best Intermittent Fasting Books in 2023

Intermittent fasting is a way of life that has taken the world by storm.

Those who have tried intermittent fasting claim that it helps boost energy and reduce food cravings and those who haven’t are left wondering how a diet that involves skipping meals can provide health benefits.

Suppose you’re thinking about trying intermittent fasting out for yourself. In that case, you might reach out for a fasting book that could help you break into the vast intermittent fasting world and see for yourself if it’s worth all the hype.

A Quick Glance at Top 3 Books on Intermittent Fasting

9 Best Intermittent Fasting Books

Whether you’re new to intermittent fasting or an experienced practitioner, there’s always something to learn. Here are the nine best books on intermittent fasting to help you discover more about this way of life and reach sustainable weight loss.

#1 Complete Guide to Fasting – Best for Beginners

Written by Dr. Jason Fung, “The Fasting Guru,” Complete Guide to Fasting, is our best overall book on intermittent fasting. The book advises against quick and unsafe weight loss methods. Instead, it focuses on the value of gradual strategies that have proven beneficial and are not harmful to health.

Co-authored by Jimmy Moore, this book breaks down the science behind intermittent fasting. Fung and Moore’s approaches are evidence-based and straightforward. 

The book also offers helpful tips on fasting, the health benefits of fasting, and its effects on weight loss. It also explores different fasting methods, including alternate-day, extended fasting, and the popular 16-8, making it a complete resource for both newbies and experts.

It also offers healthy recipes for food inspiration and even provides ideas on what to eat throughout your eating windows.

#2 Eat Stop Eat – Best for a Quick Summary

Eat Stop Eat is an intermittent fasting book that starts by going into depth about the years of research done on fasting, including the effects that it has on diabetes management, hormones, and the different parts of the body.

In the book’s second half, you’re given tangible information on how to schedule an intermittent fasting plan involving one or two 24-hour wet or dry fasts per week and instructed to eat whatever your heart desires in between while still achieving good health and weight loss. 

The author, Brad Pilon, claims that this simple, fast diet includes the magic number of fasts and should allow users to lose 0.5–2 pounds every week, depending on their starting weight.

#3 Delay, Don’t Deny – Best for Personalization

Delay, Don’t Deny is an alternative to the traditional method of counting calories and upping your physical activity since this method doesn’t work for everyone or always leads to sustainable weight loss. 

It’s all about having the information you need to experiment with a variety of different fasting techniques until you find something that fits your intermittent fasting lifestyle.

The author – who used the intermittent fasting techniques outlined in this book to lose over 80 pounds – recommends trying an OMAD (involves eating One Meal a Day) style of fasting, or if you’re up for it, using more extended fasting to lose weight more effectively.

#4 Fast. Feast. Repeat. – Best for Keeping a Routine

Fast. Feast. Repeat. was created as an alternative to the conventional weight loss method involving restrictive eating and counting calories.

The author offers a 28-day complete guide to fasting, which provides a clear-cut plan for readers to slowly decrease their eating window until they are in an OMAD (one meal a day) eating style. 

This book recommends longer fasting periods, such as a 16-hour fast, since long fasts are when blood sugar levels drop, putting the body into ketosis and using fat reserves for energy. 

A clear plan can be useful for beginners or anyone who has struggled to create a solid intermittent fasting routine and reap the health benefits of it.

#5 The Scientific Approach to Intermittent Fasting – Best for Targeting Specific Health Issues

The Scientific Approach to Intermittent Fasting is a complete guide to fasting that includes in-depth research about how fasting affects the body and the amazing results you can expect to experience when adhering to a consistent fasting schedule – which goes far beyond just weight loss.

In this book, the author gives a thorough breakdown of the complex biochemistry involved in metabolizing our food, which is essential to understanding how an intermittent fasting lifestyle produces results. 

It also includes information on how you can begin creating a fasting regime best suited for your lifestyle and weight loss needs.

#6 The Longevity Diet – Best for Overall Health

The Longevity Diet is an in-depth analysis of a fasting-mimicking diet, basically a diet that stimulates the effects of fasting in the body without the need to deprive yourself of food.

This diet allows you to eat as you normally would for the majority of the year and requires that you adhere to a certain fast-mimicking diet only 3–4 times a year, making it perfect for anyone who struggles with the lethargy that can sometimes accompany intermittent fasting.

Research on the Longevity Diet shows promise in its ability to lower mortality rates. 

The author, who was the director of the Longevity Institute at USC, also successfully used this diet to activate stem cells, which can be useful in reducing the risk of diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease, among other health benefits.

#7 Intuitive Fasting – Best for Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Fasting is an intermittent fasting guide designed to bring us back to our roots and encourage an eating style that is more similar to that of our ancestors – which doesn’t include three meals and multiple snacks a day.

By restricting your eating window, author Dr. Will Cole claims that readers can rebalance their hormones, reset their bodies, recharge their cells, and shake off fatigue and inflammation on a cellular level.

In this book, you’ll find a 4-week intermittent fasting plan that will bring the body back into metabolic flexibility. After this, you can intuitively decide when to start and stop eating, allowing you to find your healthy weight and maintain it.

#8 Vegan Intermittent Fasting – Best for Vegan Diet

Vegan Intermittent Fasting is a complete guide to fasting following a vegan diet to get the best results from fasting.

The program recommended in this book is a tried and true 18:6 fasting method that is proven to provide all the results you’d expect from intermittent fasting while also keeping you from feeling hungry throughout the day.

This book also includes a 14-day program to help readers get started, which includes meal plans and workouts designed to boost the plan’s effectiveness while also helping build strength and endurance. Since it’s focused on a vegan diet, the program involves eating only plant-based foods.

#9 Complete Intermittent Fasting – Best for Healthy Fasting Recipes

Complete Intermittent Fasting is an intermittent fasting diet guide that is filled with all the advice you need to get started with short or more extended fasting, depending on your level of experience.

It includes information about how intermittent fasting works to provide results, answers any questions about intermittent fasting, and even includes recipe and meal plan options to help you decide on what to eat during fasting and after it.

A great feature of this book is that it provides different fasting options that suit every kind of lifestyle, from a stay-at-home mom to someone who travels for work.

Comparing the Best Intermittent Fasting Books

How to Choose the Best Fasting Book

We covered a few bases to bring you the best intermittent fasting books to help streamline your journey. All the books in this list are informative and user-friendly, whether you’re a beginner or a pro. We also studied the overall quality, effectiveness, price, and reputation of the writers.

Quality

To determine the quality of the books on intermittent fasting, we checked how clearly and effectively each of them conveyed information. A good intermittent fasting book should be well structured with clear explanations backed by scientific evidence.

The books in this review offer high-quality content to help readers reach their health goals, whatever they may be. There’s a good selection to help you find a program that works best for you.

If you’re new to intermittent fasting, you’ll likely benefit from scientific research breaking down the mechanics of intermittent fasting in combination with a clear-cut program to help you implement a new fasting routine. 

Effectiveness

An effective intermittent fasting book should help readers achieve their health and wellness goals, whether it’s weight loss, longevity, or metabolic health.

We checked on user reviews and testimonials for each book to get insights into how these books impacted real people.

The books in this list passed this test, and we included a selection of beginner-friendly books and methods for more experienced fasters to ensure their effectiveness for a range of people. 

Price

A book is something you keep for life. However, you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a book, especially if you’re using it as a cheaper alternative to fasting apps and personal coaching. 

An intermittent fasting book should be an affordable purchase that will benefit your health. You can find most of the books in this review for $10-$25.

Brand reputation

Nowadays, anyone can write and publish a book, so the author of any intermittent fasting book must have good credentials. While success stories are enjoyable to read, we ensured the authors of the books in this review are qualified writers.

The nine books in this review are from reputable authors, including those who have founded specific diets or have tried and succeeded with certain fasting programs.

FAQs

Conclusion

Some books on intermittent fasting are focused on education, while others provide practical tools and programs to guide you on your intermittent fasting journey. Which book is best for you will depend on your unique needs and current knowledge of intermittent fasting.

Complete Guide to Fasting, Eat Stop Eat, and Delay, Don’t Deny reached the top of our list as some of the most useful books on intermittent fasting that can guide you through the fasting journey and help you create healthy and sustainable habits along the way.

You can be completely immersed in the fasting style of life by reading one of them; however, do consult with a medical professional beforehand to see if intermittent fasting is safe for you.