The FastDay Forum

I'm thinking of starting this diet, but have type 2 diabetes and heart failure. Is it safe for me to follow the 5:2 diet? (I do need to lose weight!)

[Moogie]

If you do a little search on the forum for type 2 diabetes you'll find there are various members who have the same and are finding this way of life helpful.

Regarding your heard condition, I'm not sure any of us are qualified to advise on that front, though some of the more medically minded folks may have some thoughts.

If in doubt please do consult your doctor!

Hi Sue, Welcome aboard! Lots of info. on here and posts from people with diabetes and most of it is very positive. Re. heart failure I don't see why fasting would be contra-indicated, but perhaps it is something you should discuss with your doctor if you have any concerns. I take beta-blockers for my heart and have not encountered any problems whilst fasting. I started off fairly cautiously having a small amount of food 2 or 3 times daily on my fast days and now I fast completely, liquids only such as herbal teas or maybe a miso bouillon if needed, and go for 24 hours before breaking the fast with a light dinner of less than 500cals. As you can see from my stats I am losing weight and hopefully this has to be good for my heart. It is certainly good for my figure! lots of luck

[carorees]

From what I've read, I would say that 5:2 should be ok for someone with heart failure but I would caution against more frequent fasting than twice a week to be on the safe side. It should certainly help your diabetes. In fact Dr Mosley has just had a paper published about the potential for 5:2 in diabetes! There is a link to the paper here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4122

Also if you look at the bottom of this page you'll see some links to previous threads on diabetes.

You might also want to consider doing some high intensity interval training exercise...it has been shown to be beneficial for heart failure patients. Lots of info in the nerdy section on this.

Sue, I would not do HIIT unless you discuss it with your doctor first. Mine advised me against it at least until I am a lot more active and fitter. The great thing about this WOL is you feel so energetic after your body gets used to the fasts that if I don't get in my brisk daily walk I am compelled to run around cleaning my house like a dervish! No prizes for guessing what I do

Hi Sue,

WRT T2D it will depend on whether you are an insulin requiring Type 2 or whether you are just insulin resistant and therefore take medicines like metformin. If the latter I don't believe there will be a problem with 5:2. However if you inject insulin then I would consult your diabetologist to figure out how to go about it. I am sure the diet will benefit you but you will need to adjust insulin usage on the days you are taking in 500 calories. In addition your calorie consumption might alter on other days (mine has gone down) and you will need to be mindful of insulin usage on those days as well. The last thing you want is to end up hypoglycemic which as you probably know can be very dangerous and even lethal.

My wife is pre-diabetc and we have seen a good improvement in her fasting blood sugars since starting the diet (just entering our 4th week so tomorrow will be our 7th fast day).

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Alln.

[carorees]

Sue, I would not do HIIT unless you discuss it with your doctor first. Mine advised me against it at least until I am a lot more active and fitter. The great thing about this WOL is you feel so energetic after your body gets used to the fasts that if I don't get in my brisk daily walk I am compelled to run around cleaning my house like a dervish! No prizes for guessing what I do

These papers show how HIIT is the most effective intervention for increasing fitness in heart failure:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22446291
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23591293
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23433767
These are just a few of the many papers recommending HIIT in heart failure. There are also many on HIIT for post heart attack rehabilitation. I suggest you show these to your doctor!

Point taken! I am not suggesting don't ever do it, it obviously depends on the fitness of the individual concerned. If you are obese and sedentary and unused to even light or moderate exercise I would exercise caution before I started HIIT. That said I am doing brisk walking regularly now and sometimes feel as though I could even incorporate a bit of running with all the extra energy I have gained! As for HIIT I am looking forward to doing it but want to be reasonably fit before I do.