Various intermittent fasting schemes have recently been slipping into the perilous realm of "fad diets" but a compelling, growing body of scientific research is starting to suggest that some kind of controlled fasting pattern could have beneficial health and weight loss effects. New research from the University of Illinois at Chicago has examined a form of time-restricted eating known as the 16:8 diet and the small study has found it could indeed be an effective form of weight loss.