Fast is Exciting!

It is often at this time of year, we all take a look at our current selves and look for ways to improve what we see! Often, that results in dieting.

I’m not one for fad diets, I prefer the exercise plus eating a balanced diet approach but that’s changing this year.as I’m about to try the Eat, Fast and live longer Diet.

I first heard about it from my husband. Shortly after I had my daughter, Millie, in August 2012, Stuart got ill with bad tonsillitis. It rendered him bedbound for several days and unable to eat. During this time, he was worried the effect that not eating for long periods (effectively fasting) would have on his body, fully expecting it to be negative. After much research (he had lots of time on his hands, when he wasn’t sleeping!), he actually found that to the contrary it could be a good thing.

It was very topical – there had recently been a documentary by Horizon on BBC2 with Michael Mosley and his research into fasting and how a new type of diet could benefit people with not only losing weight but actually reducing their chances of developing serious illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and brain conditions such as Alzheimer's.

Having now watched the documentary myself, I actually feel excited by taking on this challenge. There is a lot of research on this and I don’t want to misquote anything or get any of the facts wrong so please Google it – the 5 2 diet would be good places to start. Here is a good interview with Michael Mosley, on the BBC’s website and I have copied (and linked from Tinned Tomatoes here) the following which may be of interest:

• Our bodies have  a growth hormone called IGF -1. As a child this is what helps our bodies grow, but as adults it ages us.
• High levels of IGF-1 can lead to diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
• Lowering your levels of IGF-1 can help prevent against these diseases and can be done through your diet.
• When lowering your IGF-1 levels, growth stops and your body starts to repair cells. It also uses up your glucose and starts to burn fat, so you also lose weight.

The 5-2 diet involves fasting for 2 days and eating normally for  5. Fasting days consist of restricting your calorie intake to 400-500 for women, 500-600 for men for any 2 days within a 7 day week. The rest of the days you can eat what you want – there is no need to ‘diet’ on the other 5 days. On the documentary, tests showed that it made no difference if you ate a low fat diet on the non-fasting days to if you ate whatever you wanted. They expected that people would eat 175% of what was normal for them on the non-fasting days but in fact it was more like 110% and this did not affect the results.

The original purpose for the fasting approach was not about weightloss but was actually about the improvements it makes to health. When we fast our bodies go into ‘repair mode’. It is thought that fasting can ‘cure’ Type 2 Diabetes (as I know people with type 1 diabetes, I would like to make clear this is type 2 only and not Type 1 which is quite different) and rapidly reduce the risk of heart disease.

It is also not a new concept. Many religions and cultures have believed and been practicing fasting for centuries.

Our (actually Stuart’s) research has found few downsides (though long term research is still continuing) – don’t get me wrong, its not easy or a quick fix. Its a lifestyle change and takes will power and commitment. But from what I have read, heard and understand, it is well worth the sacrifices and knowing that you can eat what you like on the non-fasting days makes it feel achievable.

Anyway, you’ll be able to see for yourself if this is just another whim or a fad diet as I intend to blog my progress and I’ll be very honest. I will be intending to exercise too as I do believe in trying to keep your body fit.

The programme does advise that this form of dieting is not suitable for everyone and that anyone intending to fast for any period of time should seek medical advice first. Having just been pregnant and regularly undergoing health checks before during and after my pregnancy, I am confident enough in my starting health before undertaking this diet but I will be mentioning it to my Dr and/or Health Visitor when I next require a visit.