It’s no great secret that the western world has an obsession with dieting, and it’s wholly understandable. Many of us hold jobs that see us sat in front of a computer 9 hours a day, and these times of economic austerity often mean a costly gym membership cannot be justified as we all begin tightening the purse strings. If we’re finding it increasingly difficult to change our sedentary existence then, predictably, the desire to search for a “quick-fix” dieting solution also rises.
The latest diet to have hit the mainstream is the 5:2, created by Dr Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer and popularised in the UK by celebrity advocates such as Phillip Schofield. The premise itself is simple: eat normally five days a week and reduce your calorie count to just 600 (for men) or 500 (women) two days a week.
But is this a healthy option? With the wealth of criticism surrounding the king of 20th century dieting: Atkins, is it only a matter of time before we discover that the 5:2 and other fasting diets are trading weight-loss for another long-term health problem?
Although by no means a scientifically exhaustive assessment, we spoke to two supporters of fasting with differing motivations in order to gain some insight into fasting diets and their efficiency .
Weight Loss
The most obvious benefit of a fasting diet is weight loss, and Robert Failla, a doctor of chiropractic and integrative healthcare is a recent advocate of fasting to lose weight.
“I have done both intermittent fasting and regular fasting. With intermittent fasting you are allowed to eat during an eight hour window but are not allowed to eat in the remaining 16 hours of the day. Seeing that sleep takes a large part of the day this is actually easy to do.”
From a practical perspective you can see why Dr Failla subscribes to this method of dieting, but there are also clear scientifically based weight-loss benefits. Putting your body through a period of fasting will cause your body to go through its reserves of glucose and into a fat-burning or ketogenic state.
For Dr Fallia the weight loss was initially a dramatic one and he lost around 10lbs in a fortnight. Although this has now slowed down to no more than 1lb a week, he has lost a massive 20lbs in just under two months.
Glowing success stories like Dr Failla’s are gold dust to those who profit from the successes of such diet programmes, and Dr Failla was quick to highlight the realities of the diet and diminish the hype:
“The best diet is the one you can follow for life, won’t harm you, and it is also the one that educates you in how to look after yourself.”
Dr Failla still exercises regularly, has cut sugars and sweeteners out of his diet and eats plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables meat and fish, simply using fasting as a means of keeping the weight off.
Proposed Health Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
American author Susan Schenck sees the benefits of fasting diets as a means of detoxifying the body rather than as simply a means of dropping unwanted body fat.
An advocate of the raw food diet/lifestyle, her book The Live Food Factor
was an IPPY award-winner upon release, and although she fasts several times a year she identifies the limits of a fasting diet:
“I lost weight quickly but fasting also lowers metabolism so it is not the best weight loss strategy to shred the pounds long term. You can only achieve results long term if you keep up with good eating habits.
“I use it mostly for cleansing my body. After a week or so of fasting I could see several dozen precursors to gall stones leave my body (after using a liver flush). Also my skin was very soft, like a young child’s. My body smelled great. My internal organs were much cleaner. My body has more energy left for internal cleaning. Energy that would have normally been used on digestion.”
The fact that Susan, whose diet appears practically toxin free, can attest to toxins leaving the body after fasting, is a strong testimonial for the benefits of fasting as a cleansing practice.
However, Susan’s approach is not without its critics, and many argue that the body’s natural detoxification processes (sweating and the actions of the kidneys, liver and colon) are sufficient. What is most important is limiting the toxins that enter the body in the first place.
To her credit, Susan acknowledges these criticisms and in no way considers fasting as either a “miracle” diet or bodily purifier.
Predictably, we’ve come full circle: although those on fasting diets may reap health and weight loss benefits in the short-term, in the long run it is a change in lifestyle and eating habits that will keep the weight off and garner the greatest improvement in health.
Everyone’s body is different, and although it’s a shame that there’s no instant recipe for weight-loss and good health, there are a range of diets that offer more realistic benefits over a longer time period. The public needs to recognise that fad diets may be great for losing pounds quickly before a wedding or a holiday, but they’re not a realistic health choice in the long run.
Author Bio:
Jamie Waddell is a medical and pharmaceutical writer from London. Having struggled with yo yo dieting in his teens and early twenties he realised that a combination of exercise, reputable weight loss products and a change of lifestyle were the best methods for slimming and weight management.
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