Dr. Mindy Pelz

Fast Like a Girl argues that intermittent fasting research has been conducted largely on men, and that women should vary fasting length across the menstrual cycle rather than following a fixed protocol.

Pelz is a chiropractor rather than a physician or an endocrinologist, and the book presents a cycle-synced fasting programme with considerable confidence.

The specific claims about hormone timing, autophagy windows and fasting's effects across the cycle go beyond what controlled trials currently show, and several dietitians have said so publicly. Treat it as a proposal rather than as settled clinical guidance, particularly if you have any history of disordered eating.