Is 5 2 just a fad?

LibertyChamp

Just to be clear: :glasses:
Fad is defined as: An intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, esp. one that is short-lived; a craze.

So, yes it is becoming popular and many people, like my self, are very enthusiastic about it. But I believe it is breaking out of short lived. To be fair, even though some might call the Atkins diet a fad, the fact that many people still swear by it could be a testament to it's longevity and deny this assertion. Although that says nothing about how healthy it might be. Personally, I believe Atkins diet is harmful and I offer the condition and health of the founder at his death as prima facia evidence.

Why is 5:2 effective and why does it work?
I believe that 5:2 emulates something that has been practiced for THOUSANDS OF YEARS! Spiritual fasting.
Physically what happens when we deny or restrict food is that first the body goes into a recover mode or rejuvenation mode. In this mode the body eliminates many impurities. It is like a reset button. But then to deny food for an extended period of time puts the body into conserve mode/ or hunger mode. In hunger mode, the body reduces metabolic burn and tries to conserves most any energy stored in the body. Then introducing or maintaining a small amount of food brings the body back into recover mode, rejuvenation mode. That is what the 5:2 does effectively by lowering calorie intake twice a week it keeps your body in that rejuvenation mode for at least those 2 days. That is why there are so many health benefits associated with it. Many studies are now finding that other groups that participate in mild fasting enjoy the health benefits of reduced cholesterol and lower incidence of diabetes.

Personally, I have done many fasts (denial of food) for personal growth and spiritual growth. In fact, those two areas in my life are tightly intertwined. I find that when my body is in recovery mode I feel amazing! Even though I just started the 5:2 diet, this is why it makes so much sense. It is a familiar place that is simply wonderful.

TheRealParisLove

No. It's been around for a long, long time. It used to called calorie cycling or the zig-zag diet. I've pretty much done it most of my life, and not really on purpose but because it is effective at helping me feel better.

Ancient religions as well as modern ones practice some kind of fasting. People have been doing this forever.

LibertyChamp

So, my sister is evangelising about the results on the 5 2 plan. Is it just hype or should I give it serious consideration?
Does it make exercising harder when calories are this restricted?

I've heard that it does work reasonably well but it probably isn't a good idea for anyone with a continuing, chronic medical condition or who is over 60 or under 16. There's a reason why they didn't require the elderly, the ill or children to fast in ancient Israel. Most healthy adults have abundant reserves to draw on during a fast. It would be terrible for me because I have uric acid levels that tend to run on the high side--fasting would likely trigger a gout attack. Not fun.

Honestly, there seems to be just as much evidence that fasting reduces Gout attacks and Gout symptoms as there is that trigger attacks. I have suffered from gout for many years and have gone on many fasts, as much as 60 hours with just water, which 5:2 is not, and never so much as a the sign of any flares. There are two keys to ensuring that gout will never be an issue with 5:2:
1. Stay hydrated, drink lots of water and healthy fluids.:drinker:
2. Keep plenty of Potassium in the diet for the two light days. Dieting can cause a loss in Potassium which in turn can increase Urate levels in the blood. Kale and chard are great sources of Potassium that add hardly any calories. Also apricot, bananas, white beans, summer squash and salmon are great sources of Potassium.
Sometimes, in fact most times, our fear is the only thing in the way of growth, happiness, and health.:happy:

lynnerack

5:2 works and I'm over 60! BP now normal after being high for years, joint pains gone, shortness of breath gone, IBS gone. Sustainable because after restricting your calories to 500, you know tomorrow you will be eating "normally". 5lb off my goal weight after 22 weeks.

fatsnacker

as somebody who has previously lost 3 stone dieting the conventional way and put it all back on, I have found 5:2 fasting much more manageable and am determined to continue when I finally reach my goal. I only wished I had followed this eating pattern years ago.

melaniecheeks

The science behind fasting for health reasons is roughly- when you constantly feed your body food, it is constantly making new cells. There's times this is a good thing- if you're still growing, or pregnant say. But for others, if you restrict calorie intake, your body is forced into repairing its existing cells before making new ones.

That's the science theory behind the health benefits, which are long term effects.

There haven't been enough scientific tests to back up this theory . Yet.

Weight loss is a side effect- but for those who love food, having to only severely calorie count 2 days a week is very attractive.

Some people can manage it and have good results, others find it really tough, or don't want to try it at all. That's ok, horses for courses, one size doesn't fit all.

Exercising is fine when fasting, many runners like to work out in a fasted state, many people find they have more energy on fast days, and for those who don't, there's 5 other days in the week to exercise on.

It's not a quick weight loss approach, it's a long term deal.

cmriverside

do what works for you,

repeat.

TwelveSticks

I can only speak for myself, but I've been following a 5:2 diet for 28 weeks now and it is very easy for me to do, has resulted in a 56 lbs weight loss, and I feel more healthy than I've ever felt. And I no longer take medication to control my cholesterol.

Plus, I have have had no significant weight loss plateaux and am confident of reaching my weight loss target, for the first time in over 25 years of pretty much constant dieting, When I get there, I will be perfectly happy to maintain the 5:2 lifestyle thereafter (or possibly 6:1, if I find I'm still losing weight when I no longer want to).

It may be a fad for others, but this is my way of life now. No other diet I have ever been on was maintainable for long enough for me to get to my goal. This one is.

For the record, I eat 600-650 cals on the two fast days, and usually between 1,800-2,000 on the others. My TDEE is around 2,200.

thankyou4thevenom

You're losing because you're averaging 1000 calories a day, not because of the arrangement of how you're eating those calories. Not healthy or sustainable.

I absolutely agree. I'm not sure many people understand the point of intermittent fasting.

Agreed, it's why I left the 5:2 group on here. They were treating it like a diet. It's not a diet, it's intermittent fasting. It's about health not weight loss.

To the OP, look up intermittent fasting groups and people like Lean Gains. You'll understand the concept of IF better if you're looking at it as a lifestyle change and a health change rather than the weight loss fad it's currently being sold as.

lindustum

I tried it after watching the BBC program a few months ago. I only managed one single day, and that was without going to work. I was utterly exhausted, had headaches, got angry, depressed, and could think of nothing but "please let it be the next day so I can eat".

I know your body has to adjust to these things- but honestly, I never would. It definitely is NOT working for me.

Losingthedamnweight

Excuse me if I'm totally wrong, but isn't this just starving yourself on a schedule?

melaniecheeks

Define starving yourself. It's 2 days of severely restricted calorie intake.

justwanderful

Yes, it's a fad. Had a neighbor that did it for a few weeks, then quit. Said it was too hard. lol.

Losingthedamnweight

Define starving yourself. It's 2 days of severely restricted calorie intake.

Not having enough calories to fuel your bodily functions. If your bmr is 1800 and you eat 500, is that not starving yourself? Just because its only temporarily doesn't really change the definition does it?

Vailara

It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

I don't think he has been doing it for 10 years. It seemed like it was a revelation to him on the Horizon programme. I remember him doing another "diet" Horizon programme not so long before, in which he found out that his body fat was too high and he was advocating turning meals into soup, increasing NEAT, eating low-fat dairy, etc. It had Alex James out of Blur on it, showing off his cheese. It looks like all that didn't work for him either, because apparently he still needed to lose weight when he did the next Horizon diet programme.

The idea of 5:2 did exist before the Horizon programme, so I'm sure there are people who have done it a long time - just not Michael Mosley!

stefjc

Yup. I have been JUDDDing for almost 18 months, I started way before Dr Mosely's programme.

I started it as I have never found a diet that sounded doable (I know too much physiology and all of the 'rules' were counter intuitive for sustained adherence). But JUDDD, written by another doctor, whose book explains his thinking and provides a lot of research links, focussed on the health benefits and the importance or 2 things:

1 weight loss is secondary
2 it should fit into your life not rule it

Taking that on board I have eaten my calories as the calculator suggests, never bothered if I was a bit over or under and always made the decision not to do it if life got in the way, that way failing, and its psychological issues, is never an issue.

Over a year I have lost about 0.5lbs each and every week (I stopped completely for about 3 months), lost a lot of fat - my back fat is almost entirely gone and have lower cholesterol, BP and probably other measures I am unaware of. Energy has never been a problem, now I have the all clear form my GP I exercise on the morning of Up Days, prior to a proper breakfast, to take advantage of the 'fasted state' and it is easy, whether cardio or resistance.

I could bore you, having spent a few weeks in a medical library researching it, but I did my homework and am happy that, as far as is known now, it is not unhealthy when done properly. Best of all it is not a diet, it has none of the anxieties of a diet, none of the life sucking needs to focus on, obsess over foods... there is only 1 rule

Eat you calories

I know the naysayers will continue to scoff, but I do not have the inclination to care or to obsessively count carbs, sugars, protein whatever. For me this works, fits in my life, does me no psychological harm and any physiological changes are, so far, positive and any possible negatives will probably, at worst, be the same as any other diet.

I am fat. There is metabolic syndrome in the family. I need to do something, this is my something.

After that there is only one thing to say, each to his own - but do your own homework before dissing or starting any diet!

ron2e

Yes it's a fad until it has been proved in independent properly monitored scientific tests. I have no problem with fasting, I do it occasionally, sometimes inadvertently because of travel, sometimes because I want to, but to build it into a regime is just dumb in my opinion. It might work for some people but it depends how many calories you eat overall. There is no shortcut to calories in < calories out = weight loss.

stefjc

How much research do you want?

Gold standard research on IF goes back decades in connection with diabetes - endocrinologists have studied it for years in animals and humans.

Ramadan and the affects of fasting in other religions have also been studied for years.

Effects on non obese subjects, obese subjects, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, VO2max, brain metabolism, Alzheimers and on and on and on....

There are lots of studies out there, a quick Google will find them for you.

ron2e

How much research do you want?

Gold standard research on IF goes back decades in connection with diabetes - endocrinologists have studied it for years in animals and humans.

Ramadan and the affects of fasting in other religions have also been studied for years.

Effects on non obese subjects, obese subjects, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, VO2max, brain metabolism, Alzheimers and on and on and on....

There are lots of studies out there, a quick Google will find them for you.

Suggest you read what I wrote. I have no problem with fasting per se, I googled 5:2 scientific research and found -

"There does not appear to be any research evidence that looks directly at the 5:2 diet. However, unlike some other fashionable diets, there is some evidence that suggests the claims made about it may have some validity – albeit with some notable limitations"

The jury is out, and while they're out it remains a fad.

stefjc

Semantics!

5:2 per se is too new to have specific research. But its principles are not new and there is a lot of research on those.

Also, if you focus on the weight loss then will be very little, as that is not its primary purpose.

As fads go intermittent fasting is very well researched.