Been lurking a bit, finally registered! Just a quick question about 5:2

This topic contains 5 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by RePete 8 years, 6 months ago.

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RePete

5:22 pm
23 May 16
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Hello all! New here but have been running into this site so many times with searching on the Googles and finally registered. I was able to do zero cal fasting days but for whatever reason, body does not agree with it anymore. So! trying 5:2 🙂

Question: Is there a reason why 500-600 calories works just as effectively as zero calorie fast? I find it fascinating, is it because the food intake is so low that our body has to process less food and continue to do what it does when fasting?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

simcoeluv

6:16 pm
23 May 16
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Hi Re and welcome:

I don’t know why you say 5/600 cal. ‘works just as effectively as zero calorie fast’. 5:2 is a weight loss diet, and the less you eat, the more you lose. A zero cal. fast removes 1000 to 1200 more cal. from the diet each week, so going zero cal. will cause slightly more/quicker weight loss than if you instead eat those calories.

Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

bigbooty

11:02 pm
23 May 16
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The 500/600 limit on a fast day was a compromise that Michael Mosley thought most people could do. If you can do a water fast all the better. I do a water only fast but most do not. Everyone is different. Sim is right, zero cals will work faster than 500/600. I think that 5:2 works because your body is tricked into not slowing down your metabolism even though you have reduced your calorie intake. It is better to severely reduce your calorie intake for 2 days rather then slightly reducing your calories over 7 day.

RePete

12:44 am
24 May 16
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Thanks for the welcome. Well I read a book mentioning our metabolic rate goes up with the 5:2 diet(as opposed to chronic calorie deficit). Also helps keep insulin low, just like with fasting. Which is a good thing. Maybe not as well as water fast, no, but at least sustainable way of going about it. So bigbooty, I think you’re on to something.

I guess that is what I meant by “as effective as fasting” but you guys are right, it’s not fasting. Anyway, thanks for clearing it up for me I think I’m understanding 5:2 better.

bigbooty

2:00 am
24 May 16
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Get a book by Jason Fung called the Obesity Code. Eye opening. I monitor my blood glucose and ketone bodies (the meter is actually very cheap to buy). In the early days of water fasting (I used to do 2 consecutive days = 60 hours water fasting) I was just entering ketosis by the end of the first day and fully into ketosis by the end of the second day. Day 1 ketones = 0.3 to 0.5mmol/L. Second day = 0.9 to 1.3mmol/L. I just finished my one day fast yesterday and was fully into ketosis after 24 hours. BG = 4.0mmol/L and ketone = 1.6mmol/L. So the longer you do fasts for the quicker you are able to flip over from running on carbs to running on fat. You become fat adapted. Ive been doing water fasts for 7 months.

Peter Attia (medical doctor that has a blog on ketogenic diets) indicated that you naturally become fat adapted. As your cells die (autophagy) and are replaced (a natural process occurring all the time) the cells that are poorly adapted to running on ketones die off first, which makes sense, as there is a lack of carbohydrates available during a fast. They are then replaced with cells that are well adapted to running on ketones. So over time your cells are replaced with cells that can run on ketones.

RePete

10:37 pm
24 May 16
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bigbooty, that’s the book I was referring to! 🙂

I used to be able to fast without a problem 1 or two days. Then one day after sweating a bit outside, I felt lightheaded and felt tingles in my hands and arms. I tried the day after, and after that to fast. A no go without feeling woozy. So trying 5:2 and let me say it’s not easy jumping in to 600 cals so easily VS fasting, strange I know. But hey, everything is a learning process.