I don’t think that way is effective and could definitely lead to daytime drowsiness among other unpleasant things.
It's not what you do, but rather how you do. Intermittent fasting, something as simple as skipping breakfast, is a way to knock off a huge chunk of calories and improve insulin resistance, that is, only if during the rest of the day you aren't just making up for lost calories by eating more during the remaining hours of the day. You literally have to be missing those 500+ calories. So, it can and does work for many people, including myself, IF done correctly. The studies that have shown it NOT to, if you look at the actual methods, they didn't do it correctly, and either didn't loose the weight or the weight loss was very similar to caloric restriction. Here's the thing though, they compared weight loss, not body composition.
That said, one should be more concerned with body composition. Interestingly enough, when the body is in a fasting mode, you preserve muscle mass because of a rise in human growth hormone, with caloric restriction, this does not happen, and you tend to loose muscle mass. Furthermore, you can also tell by the physical presentation of someone who lost weight with caloric restriction vs fasting. The person who fasted, has tight skin and has preserved muscle mass vs. the caloric restriction who has a significant amount of loose skin, they still have a fair amount of fat on them comparatively, and will have lost their muscle mass. If you understand the phrase "This person is skinny-fat", in other words, their BMI looks good, but they still carry unhealthy fat. Pound per pound, the results are significantly different.
Actual fasting, 24-48-72hr regimens, the results are far more profound in terms of reversing insulin resistance, improving A1C, reversing diabetes, shrinking cancerous tumors, loss of pure fat, improvements in blood pressure, extends your life, cleans up the body of old, dysfunctional cell lines, improves cognitive abilities, significantly decreases inflammation, etc. IF done correctly, a simple water fast, albeit with electrolyte and multi-vitamin replacement will result in significant, healthy fat loss, and it is quick and relatively easy to do, provided you pay attention to yourself and allow for a transition to a 1-2 meal-a-day regimen every 2-3 days, then cycle back onto fasting. I also would recommend a probiotic. Most of the medical concerns with regards to prolonged fasting are around electrolyte and nutrient imbalances, which are easily compensated for.
Keep in mind, anthropologically and socioeconomically, it has only been within the past 150-200 years that even within so-called "developed" countries, the populous was even able to have more than 1 meal a day. It was the aristocracy that could afford to eat more than one meal a day. There are populations of people, right now, that still only eat one meal a day, and interestingly, they have less health issues and longer life spans. There are several scientific studies examining the effects on the body during the month of Ramadan, a 1 meal a day regimen, within the Muslim population.
