I know people who do it and feel great, but it is not for everyone. I stick to calorie counting since such strict fasting plan just makes me eat far too much during the eating window, and the rest of time i feel annoyed or hungry. Imo it’s hard if you workout for example. You finish the gym in the evening, surely you’re horribly hungry, but too bad, your eating window is over. Another thing that annoyed me was the need to organize the whole day around the eating window (gym schedule like in the exmaple above). Calorie counting is tedious, but much easier to organize in my opinion.
You might ask in r/intermittentfasting.
It’s not a diet, but a lifestyle. I think it’s very sustainable, speaking from experience.
I could go on… but you can read more in this published research article.
16:8 is very good for you for months, but there are some studies showing that prolonged (6m or more) 16:8 can increase cancer risk rather than decrease it. But 12:12 fasting has shown no bad effects in any study so far.
I have been on a 12:12 five to seven days a week, and 16:8 the rest of the week for about three years now and my bloodwork is great and I feel great
Be careful with IF if you’re female. Studies show it’s often not as effective for women and also potentially harmful (really can mess with hormone levels). From the research I’ve done, 14-16hr fasts are what’s recommended if you want to try it