It works for me. The secret is simple: Eat food, real food. the trick is to know what real food is (6 main food groups: Beans, whole grains, veg, fruits, nuts/seeds, tubers)
This is modern voodoo.
I’ve eaten terrifically and exercised regularly. I’ve also been a slob and ordered Uber Eats from bed for a week. I don’t gain much weight either way. When I have, I can lose it within a week. (My figure changes. But not enough that clothes don’t fit.)
This isn’t because I follow some magic (ex post facto obvious in some way) diet. It’s my biology. Other people have different biologies that will save calories irrespective of the source and use; their basal metabolism adjusts to ensure they’re burning less than they eat, all the way to starvation.
In a calorie-deficit environment, or one stricken by plague that disease out digestion while the immune system goes full blast, I die first. In a calorie-rich and vaccinated world, they do. (Even then, mortality is higher amid low BMIs than moderate ones, largely due to disease outcomes.)
I did indeed lose the belly fat I wanted to shed.
I'm sure it wasn't the healthiest thing I ever did, but from the perspective of fat loss it worked AOK
There is zero scientific evidence about this.