Diet "5:2" is a system of alternating normal and half-starved days, on which you can lose weight up to 10 kilos per month. We figured out how to arrange serious fasting days and feel healthy.
The 5:2 diet was developed by British dietitian Michael Moseley and journalist Mimi Spencer. The bottom line is that five days a week you eat whatever you want, and two days you are malnourished, and quite radically. Women 5: 2 on fasting days allows you to consume no more than 500 calories, men - 600. Preference should be given to low-fat foods rich in proteins and fiber, carbohydrates are prohibited, with the exception of a small amount of vegetables and fruits. Alcohol in these two days is also banned. Michael Moseley does not advise to sit on a diet for two days in a row - it is best to arrange fasting days on Mondays and Thursdays. Many of those who have tried all the diets in the world, it is 5: 2 is considered a panacea.
500 calories per day is enough
In fact, 500 calories is not so little. For example, vegetable soup-puree with a small amount of olive oil contains only 100-150 calories, fish or chicken with vegetables - no more than 250 calories, grilled vegetables with feta cheese - about 200 calories. And most importantly, many experts believe that the 5:2 diet is one of the few that really suit us from the point of view of evolution. "Today, our refrigerators are bursting with food, but historically the era of such abundance has come only recently and the human body has not had time to adapt to it," explains Walter Longo, Ph.D., director of the Institute of Longevity at the University of Southern California. - Ancient people ate extremely irregularly: they starved, then when hunters brought prey, they ate for the future. Therefore, fasting days a couple of times a week should spur metabolism to more active work. If you hardly eat, the body switches to survival mode and is taken to burn fat reserves. You're losing weight." Another news is that we used to think that it is necessary to eat a balanced diet daily. This, as most modern nutritionists are convinced, is not entirely true. The human body is a piggy bank. Therefore, if you usually eat more or less balanced, and a couple of days a week sit on rice and water, the body does not suffer much: it has reserves of vitamins. This is an excellent diet, especially if you keep yourself in hand on five non-fasting days.
The result should appear after the first week - you will lose at least half a kilo
Long breaks between meals are useful
It is believed that not to dine is harmful; it is better to eat often and little by little. However, scientists at the University of Illinois, who study the problems of proper nutrition, think otherwise. Recently, they conducted a study among women who consumed no more than 500 calories two days a week and did not have dinner. It turned out that on the day following the unloading, they ate only 10% more. As a result, most of those who participated in the experiment for two months easily lost from 5 to 15 kilograms. The reason is in the changed hormonal metabolism. The body is able to quickly get used to the restriction in food: if you sit on a strict diet for only one day, the next saturation will come faster. Plus, an increasing number of experts come to the conclusion that if you take long breaks in meals, there is a chance to get rid of fats faster. "When we eat foods that contain carbohydrates," explains Professor Krista Varadi, one of the leading American nutritionists who conducted this study, "glucose enters the blood first. When we skip lunch or dinner, the body is taken to use glucose as an energy source, which is stored in the muscles and liver. And when these reserves are exhausted (usually this happens in 8-12 hours depending on the speed of our metabolism), we begin to burn fats until we sit down again at the table. This, in fact, is the essence of many new diets - to endure as long as possible and allow the body to get to fats. But in the case of 5:2, you limit yourself to heavy food for as much as 36 hours, especially if you have an early dinner before the fasting day.
There's a tougher version, it's called The Other Day Diet. It is quite recently - after many years of research - decided to share with humanity Professor Krista Varadi. One day you eat without restrictions (but within reason), the next day you eat four times less, and the main meal should fall on lunch. The next day - again normal food. On the fourth - diet. Yes, 5:2 is more humane, but even her doctors advise starting small. For example, a couple of times a week do not have lunch (but it is much better not to have dinner) to get a 12-hour break between breakfast and dinner. Four hours will be spent digesting breakfast, the next eight will need the liver for detox, which in itself is useful. Then the breaks can be increased to 16-18 hours and after some time go to 24-hour fasting (the time when you sleep is also considered). On days when you skip meals, you need to drink plenty of fluids. Attention! Coffee, tea are allowed, but much more useful water with a few drops of lemon or apple cider vinegar, with it the effect of detox will be enhanced.
How to get used to fasting?
"If you've never exercised and you're forced to run five kilometers without respite, you won't like it. But this does not mean that running is harmful. So it is with fasting - you just need to get used to it, "says Professor Mark Mattson, director of the neurolaboratory at the Baltimore National Institute of Aging. Professor Mattson is a major scientist who recently also decided to evaluate the effectiveness of the diet 5: 2. He was pleased with the results. Some participants in the experiment complained that at first on fasting days they had a headache, it was difficult to concentrate and the world as a whole was not happy. But two weeks later, everything was removed as a hand. "Our body actually loves abstinence," Mattson continues. "In addition, when fat burning begins, the brain releases special proteins and acids that protect cells, stimulate additional energy sources and improve mood." This is justified by evolution: during periods of hunger, brain activity should increase: you need to somehow look for food! Therefore, relatively short (for example, during the day) periods without food give the same useful stress for the brain as regular physical activity for the muscles. And if fasting a couple of days a week becomes a habit, this, as scientists at the National Institute of Aging found out, can also be the prevention of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Because abstinence from food for six hours or more triggers healing processes in the body - there is a cleansing of cells, the aging process slows down, inflammatory processes subside, the immune system is strengthened, and new neurons are formed in the brain that stimulate its work.
