{"id":10076,"date":"2024-02-15T20:27:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T13:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10076"},"modified":"2024-02-15T20:27:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T13:27:01","slug":"a-look-at-the-52-diet-and-the-fasting-mimicking-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10076","title":{"rendered":"A Look at the 5:2 Diet and the Fasting-Mimicking Diet\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>What are the effects of eating only five days a week or following a fasting-mimicking diet five days a month?\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Instead of eating every other day, what if you <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/16529878\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ate<\/a> five days a week and <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28791787\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fasted<\/a> for the other two? As I discuss in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-5-2-diet-and-the-fasting-mimicking-diet-put-to-the-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The 5:2 Diet and the Fasting-Mimicking Diet Put to the Test<\/strong><\/a>, the available data are similar to that of alternate-day fasting: About a dozen pounds of weight loss was <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28791787\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> in overweight men and also <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20921964\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> in overweight <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20921964\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">women<\/a> over six months, with no difference <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28791787\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> between participants on the 5:2 intermittent fasting regimen and those on a continuous 500-calories-a-day restriction. The largest trial to date <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29778565\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> an 18-pound weight loss within six months in the 5:2 group, which isn\u2019t significantly different from the 20 pounds lost in the continuous calorie restriction group. Weight maintenance over the subsequent six months was also found to be no different. <br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Though feelings of hunger may be more pronounced on the 5:2 pattern than on an equivalent level of daily calorie cutting, it does not seem to <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20921964\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lead<\/a> to overeating on non-fasting days. One might expect going two days without food may negatively impact mood, but no such adverse impact was <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29097329\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a> for those fully fasting on zero calories or <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29860630\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sticking<\/a> to just two packets of oatmeal on each of the \u201cfasting\u201d days. (The oatmeal provides about 500 calories a day.) Like alternate-day fasting, the 5:2 fasting pattern appeared to have inconsistent effects on cognition and on <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27810402\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">preserving<\/a> lean mass, and it also <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29508693\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">failed<\/a> to live up to the \u201cpopular notion\u201d that intermittent fasting would be \u201ceasier\u201d to adhere to than daily calorie restriction.\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Compared to those in the continuous-restriction control group, fewer subjects in the 5:2 pattern group <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/26603882\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expressed<\/a> interest in continuing their diet after the study was over. This was attributed to quality-of-life issues, with 5:2 fasting participants citing headaches, lack of energy, and difficulty fitting the fasting days into their weekly routine. However, as you can see below and at 1:53 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-5-2-diet-and-the-fasting-mimicking-diet-put-to-the-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, there has yet to be a single 5:2 diet study <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28791787\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">showing<\/a> elevated LDL cholesterol compared with continuous calorie restriction at six months. Nor has it been <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29778565\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shown<\/a> for a <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29778565\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">year<\/a>. This offers a potential advantage over alternate-day regimens.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101084\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-53-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><br \/>Instead of 5:2, what about 25:5, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28658487\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spending<\/a> five consecutive days a month on a \u201cfasting-mimicking diet\u201d (FMD)? Longevity researcher Valter Longo designed a five-day meal plan to try to simulate the metabolic effects of fasting by <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/26094889\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">being<\/a> low in protein, sugars, and calories with zero animal protein and zero animal fat. By making the diet plant-based, he hoped to lower the level of the cancer-promoting growth hormone IGF-1. He indeed accomplished this goal, along with a drop in markers of inflammation, after three cycles of his five-days-a-month program, as you can see below and at 2:33 in my <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-5-2-diet-and-the-fasting-mimicking-diet-put-to-the-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101086\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-33-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><br \/>One hundred men and women were <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28202779\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">randomized<\/a> to consume his fasting-mimicking diet for five consecutive days per month or maintain their regular diet the whole time. As you can see in the graph below and at 2:47 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-5-2-diet-and-the-fasting-mimicking-diet-put-to-the-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, after three months, the FMD group <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28202779\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was<\/a> down about six pounds compared to the control group, with significant drops in body fat and waist circumference, accompanied by a drop in blood pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101088\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-47-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Those who were the worst off accrued the most dramatic benefits, as seen in the graph below and at 3:04 in my <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-5-2-diet-and-the-fasting-mimicking-diet-put-to-the-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a><\/strong>. What\u2019s even wilder is that three further months after completion, some of the benefits appeared to <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28202779\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">persist<\/a>, suggesting the effects \u201cmay last for several months.\u201d It\u2019s unclear, though, if those randomized to the FMD group used it as an opportunity to make positive lifestyle changes that helped maintain some of the weight loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101090\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-04-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><br \/>Dr. Longo <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28658487\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">created<\/a> a company to market his meal plan commercially, but, to his credit, says \u201che does not receive a salary or a consulting fee from the company\u2026and will donate 100% of his shares to charity.\u201d The whole diet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6816332\/bin\/NIHMS1054235-supplement-Supplementary_Materials.pdf\">appears<\/a> to be mostly dehydrated soup mixes, herbal teas like hibiscus and chamomile, kale chips, nut-based energy bars, an algae-based DHA supplement, and a multivitamin dusted with vegetable powder. Why spend 50 dollars a day on a few processed snacks when you could instead eat a few hundred calories a day of real vegetables?\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>How interesting was that? All-you-can-eat above-ground vegetables for five days would have the same low amount of protein, sugars, and calories with zero animal protein or animal fat. But we\u2019ll probably never know if it works as well, better, or worse because it\u2019s hard to imagine such a study ever getting done without the financial incentive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about IGF-1, see my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/flashback-friday-animal-protein-compared-to-cigarette-smoking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Flashback Friday: Animal Protein Compared to Cigarette Smoking<\/strong><\/a>.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>In this series on fasting, I\u2019ve covered several topics, including the basics of calories and weight loss, water-only fasting, and the types of alternate-day fasting, see them all in the related videos below.\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>I close out the series with videos on time-restricted eating: <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/?s=Time-Restricted%20Eating%20Put%20to%20the%20Test\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Time-Restricted Eating Put to the Test<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-benefits-of-early-time-restricted-eating\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The Benefits of Early Time-Restricted Eating<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>If you want all of the videos in one place, I\u2019ve done three webinars on fasting\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/drgreger.org\/collections\/videos\/products\/fasting-weight-loss-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Intermittent Fasting<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/webinar\/fasting-disease-reversal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Fasting for Disease Reversal<\/strong><\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/webinar\/fasting-cancer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Fasting and Cancer<\/strong><\/a>\u2014and they\u2019re all available for download now.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_social_bottom_trigger\"\/>  <\/div>\n<p><script>\n            !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n            {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n                n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n            if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n            n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n            t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n            s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n                'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n            fbq('init', '1582627921973608');\n            fbq('track', 'PageView');\n        <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the effects of eating only five days a week or following a fasting-mimicking diet five days a month?\u00a0\u00a0Instead of eating every other day, what if you ate five days a week and fasted for the other two? As I discuss in my video The 5:2 Diet and the Fasting-Mimicking Diet Put to the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}