Hi, kaiser80 – If you want people to discuss the study, it would really be more helpful if you included the relevant link. After a bit of a goose-chase, I think I’ve tracked down one article about the Harvard research study that you are referring to. Let me know if it’s not the one you meant:

‘Skipping Breakfast a Recipe for Heart Disease, Study Finds’ – By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter, MONDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News):

Extract from the beginning of the article:
QUOTE: ‘Men who skip breakfast have a 27 percent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or developing heart disease than those who start the day with something in their stomach, according to a new study.

The study confirms earlier findings that have linked eating habits to elevated risk factors for heart disease, the Harvard researchers said.

“Men who skip breakfast are more likely to gain weight, to develop diabetes, to have hypertension and to have high cholesterol,” said Eric Rimm, senior author and associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and associate professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

For example, breakfast skippers are 15 percent more likely to gain a substantial amount of weight and 21 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, earlier studies have reported.

The new study, published July 22 in the journal Circulation, found that these men also indulged more heavily in other unhealthy lifestyle choices. They were more likely to smoke, engage in less exercise and drink alcohol.

“We’ve focused so much on the quality of food and what kind of diet everyone should be eating, and we don’t talk as often on the manner of eating,” said Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “This study is not even discussing the type of food. It’s just talking about behavior and lifestyle choice. Part of heart-healthy living is eating breakfast because that prevents you from doing a lot of other unhealthy things.” UNQUOTE

For full article go to: http://news.health.com/2013/07/22/skipping-breakfast-a-recipe-for-heart-disease-study-finds/

As far as I can see, there is no reference to Intermittent Fasting at all and the main body of the study just seems to confirm that the type of person in the study who regularly missed breakfast tended also to be the type of person whose overall lifestyle was more likely to be unhealthy and include a variety of bad habits which are known to lead to an increased risk of heart problems.

I think there’s a world of difference between a) consciously choosing not to eat first thing in the morning as part of a 5:2 Intermittent Fasting weight-loss and health regime and b) frequently missing breakfast because of time-pressure and/or a stressed lifestyle with no regard to diet and health.

As this is your first post on this forum, I’m not sure whether or not you are considering trying the 5:2 approach. If you read around here, you’ll find many people who are thriving on a variety of different fasting patterns which they have each found suits their individual circumstances. Certainly, a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle are crucial but I see little in the article quoted above which I believe should deter anyone from incorporating the 5:2 system into their lives. Best wishes.

Hello, Couscous – and thanks for the info about the Nov 2009 article. It looks to me like that article was about the original study which featured in Michael M’s documentary ‘Eat, Fast and Live Longer’, back in August 2012. Krista Varady was mentioned in the article, as ‘an assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition who led a research team at the University of Illinois at Chicago’, and I believe her work certainly featured prominently in the TV programme.

Here’s a link to the article for anyone who wants to read it for themselves, thereby delving back into the genesis of 5:2 Intermittent Fasting and ‘The Fast Diet’ book –

‘Fasting on Alternate Days May Make Dieting Easier’, November 11, 2009:
http://news.health.com/2009/11/11/fasting-alternate-days-may-make-dieting-easier/

Thanks also, Couscous, for your good wishes. I’ve just written – and then lost – a long piece about my progress in getting off all my acid-reflux drugs and using natural products instead (raw honey, slippery elm bark powder, and DGL: Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice Root Extract tablets). No drugs now and no intention of returning to them. Gullet seems to be settling down gradually, so long as I’m careful about doing the right things for it – such as eating the right things at the right times, i.e. often – and not eating at the wrong times – evenings/overnight.
The rest of my ‘progress report’ – blood-test results, weight-loss update, current ‘Joe Cross Reboot’ juicing-fast details, exercise regime changes – will have to wait for another day, I’m afraid, as I’m all typed-out now – sorry to be so irksome. I think I am doing pretty well, though – very motivated to improve my health and well-being and really enjoying all the new subjects that come up on the forum. I hope you can say much the same – or more – for yourself. With all best wishes.

Jeanius, thank you for your reply, yes the report I mentioned seems to be what you researched. It also shows the danger and pitfalls of taking at face value a “Snappy Headline” concerning the negative health concerns about a piece of research and how it can spread. My local paper, “The Northern Echo” ran a piece this morning about the Heart disease story as did the “Daily Mail”. While mentioning other lifestyles that impact on the heart issues it is the headline that sticks in peoples minds.
I have followed your travels concerning the effects the 5:2 lifestyle is having on you including your health issues. I am always impressed with posters who have health issues other than the simple over weight problem that some of us have. That is not to diminish the impact of being overweight because we do recognise the health issues that brings.
We are all guinea pigs at the moment for the 5:2 lifestyle that Michael has visited upon us. We are all different. Many of us, like yourself dig deeper, research and pass on experiences that benefit many posters. I suspect Michael is keeping a close eye on all of our comments and is hopefully continuing his research into the fasting lifestyle. What comes next?.
Good luck and good health.

Just about everything that you eat or do will cause some kind of problem in another area to the one that you are trying to fix. Seems to be best not to go to extremes, that is what i like about the 5:2 diet, it is an ideal moderation. My wife is on it to reduce her cholesterol and for her it is working, the first time in several years that something has actually worked. She was in the danger zone and a drop of 0.9 in just five weeks has taken her to the safety area, she would like to get just a little bit lower then she might try changing the 5:2 to a 6:1 for maintenance. I hope to start at the end of this month after my next CT Scan and comprehensive blood tests, I have these every nine weeks so should be able to monitor things regularly.

@whiterabbit
” Kudos to the website administrators for allowing people to post both sides so we can make up our own minds.”

Yes, I agree that varying opinions should be voiced.

As for me, fasting gives me a higher potential for living.

➰

I am a devout believer in the efficacy of 5:2 diet and therefore I very much enjoy this web site. However I am rather puzzled by the few who attempt the diet, some for nearly a month, and fail to lose weight. I would like to hazard a
guess as to why they fail. Men’s ‘normal’ diet is calculated as 2400 calories
a day and women’s is 2000 a day. Now I might have eaten 2400 calories a day or so over Christmas but frankly for a 78 year old it’s a large amount of food. I can’t help thinking that others working in more sedentary occupations or around the same age as me would agree. It’s this word ‘normal’ that might be the reason that a very few fail this diet. Perhaps they actually eat more on their their five days than they would eat ‘normally’ because they think they have to?

@JohnRennie I agree that 2400 calories is a fair amount of food but 2400 was taken as an ‘average’ amount for men and 2000 as an ‘average’ for women. That is explained in the ‘how?’ link at the top of the page. It is also explained that it’s up to the individual to calculate their individual TDEE so they can establish the maximum amount they should have on non fast days. the TDEE is based on the person’s gender/age/height/weight/activity level

This can be calculated under the ‘how?’ link or there are many websites with this information.

It is also pointed out within that link that intake on a fast day should be 25% of the individual’s TDEE.

You are right that age plays a part, as does height and weight…at the age of 67 my TDEE is 1595 calories; someone of the same height/weight etc aged 27 would have a TDEE of 1885 calories and someone my age but 6 inches taller would have 1740.

Since my TDEE is 1595, my fast day ‘allowance’ is 400.

Each person needs to calculate the figure and fit 5:2 round their lifestyle on this basis. It’s up to each of us to find the way that works best for us.

xx