Experimenting with Diet - The 5:2 Fasting Diet

What is the 5:2 Fasting Diet?

The 5:2 Fasting Diet is advocated by Dr. Michael Mosley.  The basic idea is to consume 600 calories or less for two days per week, every week to lose weight and live longer.  I first ran into the concept of the diet when researching fasting as a possible alternative therapy and ran into a BBC special called Eat, Fast, and Live Longer, an hour long special by Dr. Mosley that discusses calorie restriction as a secret to improved health and longer life.  The diet appears to be based on valid scientific research - predominantly that of Dr. Krista Varady (whose research validates an alternative day fasting diet, not the 5:2 fasting diet) - but attempts to minimize the frequency of fasting days. 

Click here to watch Eat, Fast, and Live Longer

The Experiment

In 2013, I stuck with the 5:2 fasting diet for two months and kept a detailed count of my calories using an online calorie counting program (Nutritional Assessment Tool) through the University of Illinois.  A typical fasting day:  A low-calorie smoothie for breakfast, water for lunch, lean meat and vegetables for dinner.  Hunger was a constant, headaches a companion, on fasting days.  The saving grace of the diet is that on the remaining five days of the week, you can eat whatever you wanted.  I took this part of the diet seriously and consumed cheeseburgers, french fries, pizza, donuts, and a host of other guilty pleasures.  Unfortunately, after two months of the diet, I neither felt improved health or had lost weight. 

My Take-a-Way

I have read and am inclined to believe that the weight loss effects of the 5:2 fasting diet are likely due to a net reduction in caloric intake over the entire week, which did not happen in my case - too many sweets.  Possible health improvements (metabolic, due to the fasting) are plausible but were not noticeable for my experience.  Dr. Varady also asserts that her diet, the alternative day fasting diet, is the only diet substantiated by her research and has more consistent results than the 5:2 fasting diet.  Click here for a Question and Answer session by Dr. Varady discussing the differences.  I have not tried the alternative day fasting diet but since I did not have success with the 5:2 diet may give it a whirl.  For the meantime, I do not discount the 5:2 fasting diet - I will only say that it did not work for me.

If you are interested in learning more about the 5:2 fasting diet, click here for Dr. Mosley's Website.