Another commenter pointed out that one of the paper's authors, Valter Longo, has already written a number of books on intermittent fasting. While I think it's great when scientist publish in a form that is more accessible to the public, it's important to note that he was strongly invested in promoting intermittent fasting prior to this research being done, even to the point of selling a $300 mail order diet.
I think the reason this "entirely unexciting" study is getting attention is related to one of its author's having a talent for self-promotion.
He has apparently donated his shares of that company to a non-profit that funds research in nutrition. It sounds much less shady than people make it out to be.
Sounds like he really believes in the power of fasting. It’s possible for him to commercialize something that works, and to keep doing scientific research to build on that foundation. It doesn’t have to be shady.
He also founded the company that sells the food for this treatment:
> Longo is the founder of and has an ownership interest in L-Nutra; the company's food products are used in studies of the fasting-mimicking diet. Longo's interest in L-Nutra was disclosed and managed per USC's conflicts-of-interest policies. USC has an ownership interest in L-Nutra and the potential to receive royalty payments from L-Nutra. USC's financial interest in the company has been disclosed and managed under USC's institutional conflict of interest policies.
I think the reason this "entirely unexciting" study is getting attention is related to one of its author's having a talent for self-promotion.