In the end it’s all about calories in < calories out. But I have found the biggest benefit with IF is discipline. It’s much easier to tell yourself “no I’m not eating” versus “I’ll eat less three times a day”. In that way is makes it easier to guarantee you are matching your intended deficit, and thus guarantee you are losing weight.
All things being equal no, it’s not substantially faster. But IF will help to direct that deficit towards using body fat by assisting with insulin. The body won’t break down fat while insulin is high, which gets spiked by eating all the time and what we eat. IF lets the body have more time with digestion and insulin died down, but it won’t somehow burn extra calories.
In my personal experience, I went OMAD and it did speed things up/break plateaus. The random extended fast (48s/72s) were great for the same things anytime weightloss started lagging. Also was def very beneficial for self discipline and appetite decrease. Overall, made cutting weight easier and more sustainable for me.