Health Fitness

Is intermittent fasting, ADF or 5:2 fasting effective?

If you’ve tried intermittent fasting and got some positive results, then you can continue with your own style. However, here is a very popular and effective method to achieve similar or better results than what you expect from traditional fasting. This is called a 5:2 diet, which simply means that you eat normally 5 days a week, but restrict your food intake to a minimum on 2 days. The slight difference between the intermittent type and the 5:2 diet is that you don’t completely restrict your food intake when following a 5:2 diet plan. You essentially control your hunger essentially and in a controlled way.

Is the 5:2 diet different from intermittent fasting?

Yes, the idea behind the 5:2 diet is to help you restrict your calorie intake or balance your intake of extra calories on weekdays by reducing it to almost zero on the 2 days of fasting. Care should be taken not to overeat or eat anything extra on normal days to make up for calorie loss on fasting days. As it will defeat the whole purpose of the diet or appetite control, it is advisable that you limit your weekend diet to your normal diet.

Why choose the 5:2 diet?

One of the most important features of this diet is that you do not need to restrict fasting days. You can eat up to 25% of your regular calories on fasting days. The average caloric intake for a woman per day is approximately 2,000, which means that women can consume up to 500 calories on fasting days. The average calorie intake for a man per day is about 2,400, so men should restrict their calorie intake to 600 on fasting days. This is often not as difficult as following a full fasting diet. You can eat 3 small meals spread throughout the day. As a smart dieter, you should choose low-calorie, natural, rewarding foods like fruits and leafy vegetables.

Does the 5:2 diet push your body into starvation mode?

Not at all. In fact, this is also one of the reasons why many people have achieved their weight loss goals by following this diet. Your body typically goes into starvation mode after 36 hours of reduced calorie intake, which is not the case with the 5:2 diet. However, the trick here is to avoid fasting on two consecutive days. You can decide your normal and fasting days according to your convenience. Those who fast two days in a row can push their metabolism into starvation mode, which should be avoided for best results.

Benefits of the 5:2 diet

  1. An easy and effective plan to lose fat

  2. Improved metabolic health

  3. Can be continued for a long time

  4. Reduces fasting insulin levels in many diabetics

  5. An effective solution for those who find it difficult to restrict calories.

  6. No additional or specific food is required.

  7. You can follow it regularly without any side effects.

What to eat and what to avoid to get the maximum possible health benefits from intermittent fasting, 5:2, or many other types of fasting can be customized to meet your nutritional and lifestyle needs. However, care must be taken not to exceed the calorie intake of the snack frequency beyond the recommended limits.

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