The FastDay Forum

Hi all,
I've been on a 5:2 regime since August and I'm still as enthusiastic about it as ever. I'd starting researching more of the health effects of food just as the Horizon programme aired and it resonated with me quite a lot so I decided to go for it as a way of eating for health reasons rather than weight loss.
Consequently I have noticed a number of health benefits and I'd be interested to see what others have achieved.
- Blood pressure has dropped from around 142/85 to 120/78
- Blood sugar reduced from 4.5 to 4.1
- Total Cholesterol down from 5.5 to 4.0
- LDL down from 3.2 to 1.8
- Inflamation markers down from "normal" to "next to nothing"
- Resting pulse down from 62 to 54
- Chronic skin condition resolving
- Eye pressure (this is important to me!) 33% reduced
- I've not had a cold or minor ailment in 8 months so far
- Improved digestion
- Improved general eating habits and cravings
Imagine if you could sell a pill that could do all this!
Others' experiences looked forward to.

Oh wow! That is an impressive set of stats. Congratulations to you! Thanks for sharing them.
I have to ask, did you also lose weight even though you weren't trying to? What results did you have? (Sorry - I'm just nosey!)

Ha! I was trying so hard to avoid the obsession with weight loss! The truth is that I've clearly lost weight but I don't really know how much. I hadn't weighed myself for a long time before I started and was in reasonable shape for an active man in his late thirties. I suspect that I've lost a stone or more as I was suprised when I weighed myself recently that I was lighter than I was when I was 17. I've lost about 2 inches or more off my waist and have the definite start of a six pack now! I suspect that I may have lost a little bit of muscle mass, but I don't do any resistance exercise so I think I could get that back quite easily if I wanted. I reckon I'm down to about 15% body fat now and weight still seems to be coming off but obviously at a much lower rate. I'm hopefully levelling off to a new equilibrium as I don't really want to get much skinnier in case I have to start going to the gym!

It's still my intention to carry on 5:2 for the rest of my days principally for the health benefits above (but also because I'm buff now!)

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you are doing brilliantly on all counts

Well done that's brilliant. I have noticed that although I've only lost 5lb that I can fit into clothes I haven't worn in ages. And the clothes I was wearing are way too big. I'm feeling really good on the 5:2 diet, it's not anywhere near as hard as I thought it would be, and my portion sizes on non fast days are now much smaller as I find I get fuller quicker. I motivate myself by imagining the fat just melting away!

Anybody got any progress other than weight loss?
Surely weight loss is the least amazing bit of this?
If you don't have info like blood tests, what about your moods, energy levels, hormone changes etc.?

I'm really wondering about people's energy levels because that is my #1 reason even though I also need to lose weight. I just started a week ago and can't tell about my own yet, except to say that I don't have any less energy at least.

Still amazed that nobody seems interested in the far more important health benefits!
Even trawling through the archives I've only found a single mention of someone's health improvements other than fat reductions!!!
I'd be really interested if others are getting the blood improvements etc that I've seen. As if not, maybe it's not the calorie restriction?

I think that's because weight loss is really easy to measure - the other benefits take longer to be seen, and many require special medical tests to assess. I had my cholesterol done in January when I satrted, and I'll get that re-tested after 6 months. But I weight myself every week, and can do that in my own home for free whenever I like.

Thanks for posting these stats Alymoosh, they are so encouraging!

Alymoosh, those stats are really interesting but in all honesty I wouldn't have a clue on any of those figures for myself so I have no way of knowing whether I've improved. I'm afraid that when the doctor tells me my BP when I have my annual medical, I'm always obliged to ask if that's good as I don't understand it anyway!!

I definitely have more energy though & that's fab - except that I'm guessing that it's the weight loss that has done that (as I would have expected it to).

I think I'll now sit here in blissful ignorance to my vital stats & assume that I'm getting the same benefits as you. Thank you

[carorees]

I think the positive effects thread shows that people are observing benefits in their bodies but the health benefits of reduced cancer risk, Alzheimer's risk and longevity are not possible to measure until people have been following this WOL for 50 years I reckon! Cardiovascular risk, although we can measure cholesterol, bp etc, again is not so easy to measure because being overweight and insulin resistance is part of the equation. The relevance of cholesterol is not entirely clear but seems to hinge on the balance of total to HDL ratio. The relative impact of the different elements is not too clear.

As being overweight and, in particular, carrying abdominal fat, is known to increase the risk of a range of diseases, there is nothing wrong with focussing on the weightloss aspect of the diet as for most people this will make a big change in their health.

For the rest, patience is a virtue they say!

I think yours was a really encouraging and interesting post Alymoosh so thank you. Yes we are very much interested in the health benefits here (OH and myself) especially as he has now reached the age his father died at (60) and I have passed the age my father died at (he was 55 and I am 59) and these are very scary thoughts indeed enough to motivate anyone. We don't feel old, no doubt they didn't either.
We monitor BP occasionally and it has definitely come down. That is vague I know but I didn't have high readings to start with so I don't keep good account of it. Other things are harder to monitor. Next March I will have my birthday checks at the doctors as will be 60 so I'm hoping the results will be good and I'm intending to keep this up. Normally I avoid the docs like the plague so don't have any recent results.

Yes I think you're probably right that it's down to ease of measurement. Although I've weighed myself exactly the same umber of times as I've given blood (once) and had my blood and eye pressure taken maybe 4 times since August. I should point out that the majority of my improvements were recorded in October 2012, about 8 weeks after I started 5:2. The response of the body to 5:2 was in my case very fast (if you pardon the pun). For this reason, I'd probably disagree that carrying fat in itself leads to increased cardiovascular risk, rather eating too much leads to increased cardiovascular risk (and also may make you fatter!). My blood stats showed a slightly elevated risk, but I wasn't carrying too much in the way of fat, I just ate way too much!
The eye pressure reduction was unexpected. I have a fairly rare eye condition that means I need drops to keep my eye pressures low. These have remained unchanged for maybe 30-40 readings until I started 5:2. Since then it has dropped to the point that I may not really need the medication. It strikes me that the NHS should be investigating all effects of 5:2 as it could save them billions (£10 bn spent on diabetes alone each year currently),
Thanks all for your responses, I find the body's response the absolutely amazing bit!

This is so encouraging! I have thought for ages that the food we eat has a massive impact on our general health, and it's lovely to read how your experience with 5:2 has backed that up somewhat! I bet you're pleased as punch!