Fast and curious
Can
two days of fasting make up for five days of healthy eating? Mirror checks out
the 5:2 diet
When
British physician Michael Mosley and writer Mimi Spencer’s book on the ‘fast
diet’ hit bookstores earlier this year, its raging popularity — as attested
even by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck and Beyoncé — was credited
to its simplicity. We tried figuring out just how simple does it work.
In an introduction to the diet in the book The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy and Live Longer With the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting, Mosley says, “With 5:2 intermittent fasting, you eat normally five days a week and diet two days a week, cutting your calorie intake for those two days to one fourth of their normal level. This means that on, say, a Monday and a Thursday you will eat 500 calories if you are a woman, 600 if you are a man.” Mosley assures that if you stick to this plan, you will lose around 0.46 kg a week if you are a woman, and slightly more if you are a man. The rider is that this also depends on not overeating on your ‘normal days’.
On their website, Mimi says that it’s important to figure your pattern when it comes to the timetable you decide to use when eating on a ‘fast day’. “My method is to wake up on a fast day morning and have a breakfast of around 300 calories at about 7 am, before going to work. Then I drink lots of calorie-free fluid but go without food until 7 pm, when I have a 300-calorie supper with my family,” she notes.
While the 5:2 diet seems uncomplicated on the surface, there are a few catches. Naini Setalvad, nutritionist and obesity and health consultant, says, “The 5:2 diet is doable, but I’m unsure about how long one can sustain it. If your intakes are this drastically small for two days, you are bound to overeat for the rest of the week, or at least on the day after the two fasting days. Also, for those two days, the body won’t meet its nutritional requirements.”
Nutrition expert Dr Nupur Krishnan says that there is hardly any weight loss achieved even with complete fasting. “Fasting gives rest to our digestive system but it doesn’t help in any significant weight loss in the long term. In terms of regulating our internal metabolism, our bodies are much smarter than we think. When all of a sudden, you reduce your calorie intake by one fourth of your daily consumption, your internal system sets off an alarm and your body will adjust its energy expenditure on fasting days and normal days. It is best to gradually reduce the calorie intake to match your basal metabolic rate, so that every day, one eats enough food without fasting.”
Studies of intermittent fasting show that not only do people see improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but also in their insulin sensitivity. But it’s also proven that drastically cutting down on your grub will hamper your blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Krishnan points out that many people misconceive the goal of diet as weight loss. “Your diet has a more significant role to play in you leading a healthy life, and balanced nutrition nourishes the body and protects you from several chronic, lifethreatening disorders like obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressure, thyroid, acidity, anaemia, liver and kidney problems.”
HERE’S HOW THE DIET WORKS
With the 5:2 diet, you can eat whatever you like five days a » week It’s immaterial , or the ‘feeding which days days ’ are spent “feeding” and which “fasting”, as long as the fasting days are non-consecutive and you stick to the 5:2 ratio » On fasting days, you can consume your calories in one go, or » spread A typical them fasting through -day breakfast the day of 300 calories might consist of two scrambled eggs with ham (good sources of protein), plenty of water, green tea or black coffee. For a typical 300-calorie lunch or dinner, try grilled fish or meat with vegetables » On feeding days you can eat what you like. Most dieters, rather than feeling a need to gorge, were happy to polish off around 2,000 calories — the recommended daily intake for women (2,600 for men) — and did not crave » high Fasting -fat can foods be a healthy way to lose weight. It can reduce levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1, which leads to accelerated ageing), switches on DNA repair genes and reduces blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels. But, current medical research opinion doesn’t recommend it for pregnant women or diabetics on medication. If your intakes are this drastically small for two days, you are bound to overeat for the rest of the week
Aruna Rathod 130524
In an introduction to the diet in the book The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy and Live Longer With the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting, Mosley says, “With 5:2 intermittent fasting, you eat normally five days a week and diet two days a week, cutting your calorie intake for those two days to one fourth of their normal level. This means that on, say, a Monday and a Thursday you will eat 500 calories if you are a woman, 600 if you are a man.” Mosley assures that if you stick to this plan, you will lose around 0.46 kg a week if you are a woman, and slightly more if you are a man. The rider is that this also depends on not overeating on your ‘normal days’.
On their website, Mimi says that it’s important to figure your pattern when it comes to the timetable you decide to use when eating on a ‘fast day’. “My method is to wake up on a fast day morning and have a breakfast of around 300 calories at about 7 am, before going to work. Then I drink lots of calorie-free fluid but go without food until 7 pm, when I have a 300-calorie supper with my family,” she notes.
While the 5:2 diet seems uncomplicated on the surface, there are a few catches. Naini Setalvad, nutritionist and obesity and health consultant, says, “The 5:2 diet is doable, but I’m unsure about how long one can sustain it. If your intakes are this drastically small for two days, you are bound to overeat for the rest of the week, or at least on the day after the two fasting days. Also, for those two days, the body won’t meet its nutritional requirements.”
Nutrition expert Dr Nupur Krishnan says that there is hardly any weight loss achieved even with complete fasting. “Fasting gives rest to our digestive system but it doesn’t help in any significant weight loss in the long term. In terms of regulating our internal metabolism, our bodies are much smarter than we think. When all of a sudden, you reduce your calorie intake by one fourth of your daily consumption, your internal system sets off an alarm and your body will adjust its energy expenditure on fasting days and normal days. It is best to gradually reduce the calorie intake to match your basal metabolic rate, so that every day, one eats enough food without fasting.”
Studies of intermittent fasting show that not only do people see improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but also in their insulin sensitivity. But it’s also proven that drastically cutting down on your grub will hamper your blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Krishnan points out that many people misconceive the goal of diet as weight loss. “Your diet has a more significant role to play in you leading a healthy life, and balanced nutrition nourishes the body and protects you from several chronic, lifethreatening disorders like obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressure, thyroid, acidity, anaemia, liver and kidney problems.”
HERE’S HOW THE DIET WORKS
With the 5:2 diet, you can eat whatever you like five days a » week It’s immaterial , or the ‘feeding which days days ’ are spent “feeding” and which “fasting”, as long as the fasting days are non-consecutive and you stick to the 5:2 ratio » On fasting days, you can consume your calories in one go, or » spread A typical them fasting through -day breakfast the day of 300 calories might consist of two scrambled eggs with ham (good sources of protein), plenty of water, green tea or black coffee. For a typical 300-calorie lunch or dinner, try grilled fish or meat with vegetables » On feeding days you can eat what you like. Most dieters, rather than feeling a need to gorge, were happy to polish off around 2,000 calories — the recommended daily intake for women (2,600 for men) — and did not crave » high Fasting -fat can foods be a healthy way to lose weight. It can reduce levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1, which leads to accelerated ageing), switches on DNA repair genes and reduces blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels. But, current medical research opinion doesn’t recommend it for pregnant women or diabetics on medication. If your intakes are this drastically small for two days, you are bound to overeat for the rest of the week
Aruna Rathod 130524
No comments:
Post a Comment