ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
This article is part of the Research TopicRamadan Intermittent Fasting Model as a Catalyst for Healthy Aging and Disease MitigationView all 3 articles
The Effect of Intermittent Fasting on Hedonic Hunger: A Pilot Prospective Cohort Study Based on Ramadan Intermittent Fasting
Provisionally accepted
- 1Agri Ibrahim Cecen Universitesi, Ağrı, Türkiye
- 2TC Mardin Artuklu Universitesi, Mardin, Türkiye
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: This study aims to evaluate the changes in hedonic hunger (HH) during Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) and to investigate the role of HH as a factor influencing adherence to intermittent fasting (IF) regimens. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted between February 24 and March 29, 2025, with 122 participants aged between 20 and 25. The study data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire that included sociodemographic information and the Power of Food Scale (PFS), administered one week before the beginning of Ramadan, and during the first, middle period and final weeks of the month. The PFS comprises three subscales: food available, food present, and food tasted. In general, mean scores of the PFS and its subdimensions exceeding 2.5 are interpreted as indicating a high tendency toward HH. Results: During the first week of Ramadan, participants' scores for food available (p=0.016), food tasted (p=0.002), and the PFS mean score (p=0.048) were found to be significantly higher compared to the pre-Ramadan scores. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in the PFS mean and subscale scores between the pre-Ramadan period and the final week of RIF. Compared to the pre-Ramadan period, participants exhibited a mean reduction of 0.6±1.51 kg in body weight (p<0.001) and 0.3±1.20 kg/m² in BMI (p=0.003) following RIF. A statistically significant but weak negative correlation was observed between changes in participants' body weight and the scores of food available (r=–0.203, p=0.025), food present (r=–0.340, p= p<0.001), food tasted (r=–0.319, p<0.001), and the PFS mean score (r=–0.323, p= p<0.001). A statistically significant and weak negative correlation was found between changes in BMI and the scores of food present (r=–0.181, p=0.046), food tasted (r=–0.216, p=0.017), and the PFS mean score (r=–0.208, p=0.021). Conclusion: This study suggests that higher levels of HH may be experienced at the onset of RIF practices; however, over time, individuals appear to adapt, returning to their pre-fasting levels of HH. This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article Within the limited observation period of this study, the influence of RIF–a form of IF–on HH appears to be transient, suggesting that longer-term
Keywords: Body Mass Index, hedonic hunger, intermittent fasting, Ramadan intermittentfasting, Weight Loss
Received: 06 Oct 2025; Accepted: 14 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 SELEN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Halime SELEN, halimeselen@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.