What is the 5:2 Diet?
Eat whatever you want five days a week, and reducing drastically calories 2 days. The part-time diet that allows you to still eat chocolate cake and lose weight, has hit the headlines and is a big hit.
The simplicity of the diet and the fact that you can eat almost anything you want five days a week are key to its popularity. It is recommended that dieters consume a “normal” amount of calories five days a week and then eat only 25% of their normal total calories for two non-consecutive days – 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men.
How does it works?
The 5:2 diet is a form of intermittent fasting, a diet pattern that involves cycling between eating periods, and fasting.
Intermittent fasting has been shown to alter the levels of certain hormones in the body, which can have many health benefits.
Because the diet involves reducing your calorie intake two days a week, it can also help support weight loss by reducing the total number of calories you consume.
The diet is very simple and easy to follow because it only requires you to change your diet two days a week. During these two days, you should limit your calorie consumption to about a quarter of your normal intake.
Pros
- Easier to follow
- You do not exclude any food group
- Promotes weight loss
- Improving brain function
- Reducing the risk of Heart disease, stroke and cancer
- Improving cholesterol levels
- Blood sugar control
- Anti-aging
Cons
- Needs more evidence base studies
- It is open to interpretation
- Easy to binge in the “normal” days
- Alters the hunger-controlling hormones
Side Effects
On fasting days:
- Low Energy
- Poor Concentration
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
It is important to maintain your hydration with water and herbal teas because dehydration can cause headaches and fatigue. Consume vegetables and protein along with some carbohydrates on fasting days to help manage and control your appetite.
What to eat on your Fasting day
There is no write or wrong when choosing what to eat or not to eat, it is more based on how much you eat. There a basically two frequent patterns that people follow:
- Eating three small meals
- Eating two meals a day
Another not so frequent pattern used, is to have small snacks during the day and eat only one proper meal.
Basically what you need to do is focus on high protein and high fiber meals, always taking in consideration that you may not eat more than 500-600 calories.
a good option is to have low calorie soups and low calorie salad to fill up.
What not to eat
As we said before there is no wrong or right way to eat. Bot we do recommend to avoid:
- Processed foods
- Refined sugar
- Sugary drinks
- Sweets and Chocolates
Table of Contents
