Dr Michael Mosley’s 5:2 diet is still topping book charts worldwide. The intermittent fast involves eating normally, but sensibly, for five days a week; on the other two days, you cut your recommended daily calories to a quarter – 500 for women; 600 for men
Yes, Associate Professor Amanda Salis, A neuroscientist with an interest in weight loss
“Periodic fasting has been practised by various religions throughout history and there’s evidence that it can be good for weight loss and health. Intermittent partial fasting such as the 5:2 diet is just one way of practicing this and, anecdotally, it has been shown to aid effective weight loss.
I’ve conducted trials on intermittent fasting and found benefits that include:
- It teaches you to find other ways of coping, and of feeling soothed and entertained besides reaching for food.
- It helps you break unhelpful habits such as grabbing snacks on the run or drinking full-cream coffees without savouring them.
- When you stop fasting and eat normally, it makes you realise how delicious a proper, nutritious meal tastes and how good it makes you feel. Once you become aware that your energy levels rise when you eat well, it’s much easier to continue eating well.
- It can help retune your ability to listen to your body’s hunger and satiety signals. You might think you’d consistently overeat on non-fasting days, and put on weight overall, but clinical research has shown that after semi-fasting days, participants tend to eat less than usual, and lose weight over time. If you’ve recently gained weight, starting an intermittent fasting diet will help the body’s “fat brake” do its job; this makes you fidgety and not so hungry in order to get you back to the “set weight” it’s become used to.
- It can be peaceful and productive. When you know your energy will be limited, you’re more likely to focus on what’s important and decline any time-wasting requests.
