The FastDay Forum

I think you are spot on that it is all in the name. When I was younger and much thinner I could easily go all day without eating, saving myself for a nice dinner in the evening. It was only when I had children and had to plan three squares a day that I got into weight problems . . . interesting now that I actually think about it.

presumably the NHS advice on constipation is to eat less fibre and crap more.

The NHS advice was last updated 9th December last year, before this forum was started and 5,000-odd people around the world started comparing experiences and logging weight losses. I wonder if someone will take the trouble to check us out properly before the next update? Does the NHS know this forum exists?

I'm afraid this just further confirms my very low opinion of the NHS. Sorry to anyone who works within it, but I wouldn't touch an NHS hospital with a barge pole. Their 'advice' on weight loss and 'leadership' as the nation's health provider is sadly lacking. The increase in obsesity proves the 'eat less move more' mantra isn't working, however sensible, it just isn't sustainable for most people.

5:2 is working for me. I'm losing weight having never been able to follow any kind of structured diet before and I feel fantastic. I think the best way to counter the big business food industry which is intent on making us fat and the NHS who aren't giving sound or productive advice on weight loss, is to find our own way. Listen to our own bodies, find what works and stick to that!

I also wonder how many of the negative comments on and reviews of 5:2 are influenced by the food industry for whom 5:2 must be a complete nightmare.

The NHS article has been updated! There's a bit about some of Dr Harvie's studies. Not sure if there are other changes?

I tried to have a look at the old version with the wayback machine but the page kept disappearing after a few seconds. (I've not used the site before so was I doing something wrong?)

Wow! They've really made a lot of changes. It's definitely more positive now than it was.

yes it is practically a completely different article. it takes a scientifically sceptical approach but it does at least refer to positive research and although the tone is cautionary it is no longer hostile.

I agree with NikkiN,

when I was younger I used to go for a whole day on only coffee to dump some ballast that crept on. It always worked but I never told anyone, especially my mother, as I would have been nagged about harming myself. I suppose I even thought it was bad for me but it was such a great way to drop a few pounds quickly that I did it anyway. The menopause was my undoing and I just lost control of everything, even my ability to fast was gone, just like my waist! I never thought of it as fasting, at the time, but obviously that is what I was doing naturally, I just, stupidly, believed what the 'experts' told me and ignored my own body's needs.

I am so glad that this has now gained some degree of respectability and we can all come 'out of the closet' so to speak. I will never give it up now, it is too much part of me and I feel so well.

Ballerina x

[carorees]

They still use google scholar though which immediately destroys any scientific credibility!

They still use google scholar though which immediately destroys any scientific credibility!

Really ? Is there any comparative research on the different search tools.

I'm afraid this just further confirms my very low opinion of the NHS. Sorry to anyone who works within it, but I wouldn't touch an NHS hospital with a barge pole. Their 'advice' on weight loss and 'leadership' as the nation's health provider is sadly lacking. The increase in obsesity proves the 'eat less move more' mantra isn't working, however sensible, it just isn't sustainable for most people.

5:2 is working for me. I'm losing weight having never been able to follow any kind of structured diet before and I feel fantastic. I think the best way to counter the big business food industry which is intent on making us fat and the NHS who aren't giving sound or productive advice on weight loss, is to find our own way. Listen to our own bodies, find what works and stick to that!

I also wonder how many of the negative comments on and reviews of 5:2 are influenced by the food industry for whom 5:2 must be a complete nightmare.

I agree Redhead, the food industry probably view this diet with horror, and it will not be championed in the same way other diets have because abstinence isn't a bit money spinner! However, I don't agree that the NHS is giving the wrong message - it's advice to eat less is spot on, it's just a bit vague and uninspiring. After all 5:2 works because you eat less!

I don't disagree that eating less is a good message, but when the very people promoting this advice are knocking a system which actually makes it sustainable, I get cross. I haven't seen the latest NHS position on 5:2 but if it's more positive, perhaps I just need to be patient and wait for longer term studies of 5:2 to scientifically prove its value.

I think the report has been uprated this month. What I get from it is a balanced scientific comment based upon the evidence available. I remember the Atkins diet and how it was said to be wonderful. However, there were severe side effects. I am very glad that the health service is taking a skeptical and, dare I say it, balanced, view based on the data available.

For me, the diet appears to be working. It allows me to keep away from a calorie counting, continuously aware, life to one where I only need be concerned about what amount of calories I eat twice a week. The spin off is that I seem to be much more able to control the amount of food I eat during the non-fasting days. The result is that I appear to have lost a stone in three weeks.

To conclude, the %:2 diet suits me. It has enabled me to loose weight and I feel better for doing so. However, it is a new diet and we should be alert to the evidence that health professionals, working on our behalf, discover.

lots of love, Manwasp

[carorees]

They still use google scholar though which immediately destroys any scientific credibility!

Really ? Is there any comparative research on the different search tools.

Well if you compare the results with google scholar and with pubmed/medline you'll see how few studies and how old and also non-relevant results google gives you compared with pubmed.

Search results from keywords "intermittent fasting" from google:

Forthcoming study explores use of intermittent fasting in diabetes as cardiovascular disease PDF Print E-mail
S Flu, SF Facts, O Map - SAGE - ebionews.com
8 days ago - Los Angeles, CA (April 26, 2013)–Intermittent fasting is all the rage, but scientific evidence showing how such regimes affect human health is not always clear cut. Now a scientific review in the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease published ...
Autophagy Promotes Oligodendrocyte Survival and Function following Dysmyelination in a Long-Lived Myelin Mutant
CM Smith, JA Mayer, ID Duncan - The Journal of Neuroscience, 2013 - Soc Neuroscience
11 days ago - ... The results are reported as the average with SE across three separate experiments. Intermittent fasting. ... p < 0.05, les in GDM versus EBSS (Student's t test). Intermittent fasting upregulates autophagy and promotes myelin production. ...
Fasting and Caloric Restriction?
S Anton, C Leeuwenburgh - Experimental gerontology, 2013 - Elsevier
12 days ago - ... A growing body of evidence indicates that fasting periods and intermittent fasting regimens in particular can trigger similar biological pathways as caloric restriction. For this reason, there is increasing scientific interest in further ...

Intermittent fasting: a dietary intervention for prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease?
JE Brown, M Mosley, S Aldred - The British Journal of Diabetes & …, 2013 - bjdvd.com
16 days ago - Abstract Intermittent fasting, in which individuals fast on consecutive or alternate days, has been reported to facilitate weight loss and improve cardiovascular risk. This review evaluates the various approaches to intermittent fasting and examines the ...
[B] The 5: 2 Bikini Diet: Over 100 Delicious Recipes That Will Help You Lose Weight, Fast
J Whitehart - 2013 - books.google.com
21 days ago - ... What happens in our bodies when We fast? Based on the opinion of several fasting experts, there is now a picture developing of how the scientists believe intermittent fasting changes the way our bodies work, giving us additional health benefits as we age. ...
[B] The 5: 2 Fasting Cookbook: More Recipes for the 2 Day Fasting Diet. Delicious Recipes for 600 Calorie Days
A Dowden - 2013 - books.google.com
23 days ago - ... Page 2. What is intermittent fasting? ... The concept of intermittent fasting — and more specifically the 5:2 diet — for managing weight reached a mass audience when Dr Michael Mosley presented the theories in a BBC Horizon programme aired in August 2012. ...
[B] Man 2.0: Reinventing the Alpha: Unlock the Secret to Burn Fat Faster, Build More Muscle, Have Better Sex and Become the Best Version of Yourself
J Romaniello, A Bornstein - 2013 - books.google.com
23 days ago - Page 1. With a foreword by 'ARNOLD CIIWARZENEGGER m ENGINEERING 'I'I-IE ALPl-IA UNLOCK THE SECRET TO Burn Fat Faster, Build More Muscle, Have Better Sex and Become the -> Best Version of Yourself<- JOI'III ROMAIIlEl-IO AND ADAM BORIISTEIII Page ...
Intermittent fasting: five quick questions with fasting expert Brad Pilon.
R Collier - CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association journal= journal …, 2013 - Can Med Assoc
27 days ago - Brad Pilon left a high-paying job in the bodybuilding supplement industry to pursue graduate studies on the metabolic effects of short-term fasting at the University of Guelph in Ontario. One result of that research was his popular book on intermittent fasting, ...
Intermittent fasting: the science of going without.
R Collier - CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association journal= journal …, 2013 - Can Med Assoc
34 days ago - There is a large body of evidence that suggests fasting can benefit both the body and brain, but most research has been conducted on animals, such as mice. Fasting researchers are calling for more human studies.

[HTML] OnIslam. net
A Ayad - onislam.net
36 days ago - Last year, it was all about detox, juicing and raw foods. Recently, it's the intermittent fasting craze. ... His long search and experimentation lead him to the 5:2 fasting solution, an intermittent fasting that achieves all these targets, he claims. ...

And from pubmed:

1. Intermittent fasting combined with calorie restriction is effective for weight loss and cardio-protection in obese women.
Klempel MC, Kroeger CM, Bhutani S, Trepanowski JF, Varady KA.
Nutr J. 2012 Nov 21;11:98. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-98.
PMID: 23171320 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free PMC Article
Related citations
Select item 22822448
2.The impact of Ramadan observance upon athletic performance.
Shephard RJ.
Nutrients. 2012 Jun;4(6):491-505. doi: 10.3390/nu4060491. Epub 2012 Jun 7. Review.
PMID: 22822448 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free PMC Article
Related citations
Select item 22738880
3.The effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting on athletic performance: recommendations for the maintenance of physical fitness.
Chaouachi A, Leiper JB, Chtourou H, Aziz AR, Chamari K.
J Sports Sci. 2012;30 Suppl 1:S53-73. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2012.698297. Epub 2012 Jun 27. Review.
PMID: 22738880 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 22414375
4.Energy restriction and the prevention of breast cancer.
Harvie M, Howell A.
Proc Nutr Soc. 2012 May;71(2):263-75. doi: 10.1017/S0029665112000195. Epub 2012 Mar 14. Review. Erratum in: Proc Nutr Soc. 2012 Aug;71(3):433.
PMID: 22414375 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 22318530
5.The effect of time-of-day and Ramadan fasting on anaerobic performances.
Chtourou H, Hammouda O, Chaouachi A, Chamari K, Souissi N.
Int J Sports Med. 2012 Feb;33(2):142-7. doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1286251. Epub 2012 Feb 8.
PMID: 22318530 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 21857506
6.Effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting on middle-distance running performance in well-trained runners.
Brisswalter J, Bouhlel E, Falola JM, Abbiss CR, Vallier JM, Hausswirth C.
Clin J Sport Med. 2011 Sep;21(5):422-7. doi: 10.1097/JSM.0b013e3182293891. Erratum in: Clin J Sport Med. 2011 Nov;21(6):546. ) Hauswirth, Christophe [corrected to Hausswirth, Christophe].
PMID: 21857506 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 20733612
7.Effect of intermittent fasting on prostate cancer tumor growth in a mouse model.
Thomas JA 2nd, Antonelli JA, Lloyd JC, Masko EM, Poulton SH, Phillips TE, Pollak M, Freedland SJ.
Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2010 Dec;13(4):350-5. doi: 10.1038/pcan.2010.24. Epub 2010 Aug 24.
PMID: 20733612 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 20662589
8.Nonlinear stimulation and hormesis in human aging: practical examples and action mechanisms.
Kyriazis M.
Rejuvenation Res. 2010 Aug;13(4):445-52. doi: 10.1089/rej.2009.0996.
PMID: 20662589 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 20519255
9.Precompetition taper and nutritional strategies: special reference to training during Ramadan intermittent fast.
Mujika I, Chaouachi A, Chamari K.
Br J Sports Med. 2010 Jun;44(7):495-501. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2009.071274. Review.
PMID: 20519255 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 20460260
10.Fasting and sport: an introduction.
Maughan RJ.
Br J Sports Med. 2010 Jun;44(7):473-5. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.072157. Epub 2010 May 10.
PMID: 20460260 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations
Select item 20460259

Note the absence of scientific studies in the google scholar results.

All meta-analyses and systematic reviews published in peer reviewed journals use pubmed searches to find relevant studies. Google scholar is never, never used.

strange but when I use Google scholar I get a string of useful results that are scientific studies. Try this

Earlier today I did some searching on some aspect of intermittent fasting using 3 or 4 key words and Pubmed gave me 9 results whereas Google scholar had a few thousand. As I added IGF and something else Pubmed rapidly dropped to zero results, quite appalling really.

"calorie reduction intermittent protein" (without the quotes ) was the search string.