In ‘The Times’ today a headline screams ‘Rush for comfort food as 5:2 dieters cram in calories’
This is a pathetic attempt by some half baked hack or more likely an idiot editor, who has absolutely no clue about anything, never mind 5:2, and who probably has never heard of Michael Mosley, trying to grab attention.
I have attached the article below and while its content is relatively interesting and in no way ‘anti’ 5:2 – its title is totally misleading and not a little offensive.
It is typical of the media to try to ‘trash’ anything and everything that has become popular and, for whom, sensationalism over truth is the byword.
Quote :-
Barely a fortnight into the New Year and it looks as if most of us have abandoned in spectacular fashion any resolution to lose weight.
The major supermarkets all report that sales of curries, pizzas, puddings and other such diet-busters have surged in the first two weeks of January.
Normally retailers expect sales of comfort foods to drop off at least until February as customers go through a burst of guilt-induced healthy eating, but this year they are up by as much as a quarter. Marks & Spencer reports that sales of its Indian range are 25 per cent greater than during the same period last year. They have sold nearly a million pizzas, up 20 per cent on last year, and sales of biscuits are up by 11 per cent.
Sainsbury’s reports similar increases in demand for pizzas and curries. Even more surprising are figures from Waitrose, where sales of clotted cream rice pudding are up 228 per cent and ginger sponge pudding up 152 per cent.
“Single-serve treats and impulse buys like chocolate bars and desserts for two in individual pots are doing particularly well,” a spokesperson said.
Before we despair at our ever expanding waistlines, however, the figures may underline not so much a loss of willpower as a change in the way we approach dieting.
The so-called 5:2 or Intermittent Fasting Diet, in which you eat normally for five days a week but restrict yourself on two, typically to 500-600 calories, has become the dominant diet of the past 12 months.
Celebrity advocates include the singer Beyoncé, the actors Jennifer Aniston and Benedict Cumberbatch and the cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Figures from Marks & Spencer show that high sales of comfort foods have been accompanied by record sales of calorie-counted ready-meals of the kind dieters seek out on their “fasting” days. The Count on Us range from M&S is having its most successful January since it was launched 14 years ago, according to Sandra Ziles, head of product development.
“It was a diet range that went out of favour in recent years but it has had a resurgence of interest,” she said. “The 5:2 diet is on the tip of everyone’s tongue and this range is very manageable for people on that.
“The most popular lines are the lower calorie ones such as lamb moussaka [280 calories] and chicken and mushroom casserole [252 calories] as it means they can eat a full meal on their fast days and still have calories to spare. They can eat normal tasty food and it’s not a punishment any more.”
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OK – I’ll leave the soapbox for someone else now
4:47 pm
18 Jan 14