The 5:2 Diet Book: Feast for 5 Days a Week and Fast for 2 to Lose Weight, Boost Your Brain and Transform Your Health

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Breakfast: Chocolate for brekkie isn’t as awful as it sounds. A Tesco white chocolate and strawberry cereal bar come in at just 85 calories. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Ninth Edition. December 2020. While the calorie restrictions are strict on the two days spent fasting, the diet is actually very flexible. It’s up to you what you eat on your fast days, as long as it comes in at no more than 500 calories for the whole day. You will need to be committed and pretty strong-willed as you’re cutting your calorie intake by 3/4, but if you keep busy and plan what you’re going to eat – it’s definitely achievable.

Breakfast:A 36g serving of Quaker’s porridge made with 180ml skimmed milk (216cals) will keep you going throughout the day. Calories so far = 216. Breakfast: Start off the day with an omelette with two eggs, 50grams of red pepper, and 50grams of onion (156cals). Calories so far = 156. How many calories you can eat will depend on the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight - your maintenance calories. It’s simple. For two days each week, you eat no more than 500 calories. The other five days, you eat normally. You should lose around 1.5lb a week – more if you have a lot of weight to lose.

Breakfast:Melba toast is great when you’re on a diet. Try having two pieces of Melba toast each covered in one tablespoon of Philadelphia Light & Healthy Cream Cheese (48cals each). Calories so far = 98 calories.

Another study by researchers at the University of Surrey examined the impact of the 5:2 diet on the body’s ability to metabolise and clear fat and glucose after a meal in 27 participants. (5) Mosley, που εν ολίγοις είναι η τακτική νηστεία δύο ημέρες την εβδομάδα. Αν νηστεύετε ήδη τακτικά τότε μάλλον δεν χρειάζεστε το βιβλίο, εκτός αν είστε υπέρβαροι που σημαίνει ότι το είδος της νηστείας που ήδη κάνετε δεν σας βοηθάει. Breakfast:Enjoy a medley of 100g hulled sliced strawberries, 100g cubed watermelon and 50g halved seedless grapes. Calories so far: 88. My problems with the book are that I am not a fan of (obsessively) counting calories and much prefer fasting for a longer period of time, usually from dinner to lunch the next day. Therefore, a large portion of the book did not resonate much with me. I find the science bits interesting but would have preferred the explanations to be much more detailed and expansive; I also found the journal entries to be cursory and on the rudimentary side.

There are a number of laboratory studies that demonstrate this approach to calorie restriction can have beneficial effects on blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol levels, and there is some limited data in humans also confirming these observations.’ says Clinical Nutritionist, Mike Wakeman. Zhang J, Zhan Z, Li X, et al. Intermittent fasting protects against Alzheimer's disease possible through restoring aquaporin-4 polarity. Front Mol Neurosci. 2017;10:395. doi:10.3389/fnmol.2017.00395

Another group was asked to eat normally five days a week, but to eat a 650-calorie, low-carbohydrate diet on the other two days; and The Mediterranean Style Diet is inspired by the dietary and lifestyle patterns of Greece, Spain and southern Italy, as research was indicating that people living in these regions were experiencing a lower rate of heart disease, cancer and had an increased life expectancy. Your 5 2 diet fasting days are best completed on days when you are busy. It is important to take your focus away from food on fasting days by concentrating on your work, family, jobs or other activities that you are involved in. This often means planning fasting days around social events and family gatherings, as saying ‘no’ to food can often be difficult in social situations.Try to avoid wasted calories in sweet or starchy foods, such as cakes, bread, pasta, rice, processed cereals and potatoes. And avoid alcohol too (sorry!).