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probably gain back the weight you lost and possibly even put on more
weight when eating the same calories you did before the fast.
As you fast, your body will adjust by reducing your appetite, so you will
initially feel less hungry. However, once you have stopped fasting your
appetite hormones will return full force and you may actually feel hungrier and be more likely to binge.
Alternative day fasting
Alternative day fasting (ADF) is a bit different. It involves eating what
you want one day, then a very restricted diet (fewer than 600 calories for
men 500 for women) the next, and most surprisingly, it does not seem to
matter that much what you eat on non-fast days.
Dr Krista Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago carried out an 10
-week trial comparing two groups of overweight patients on ADF.
Her findings concluded that ADF is a viable diet option to help obese
people lose weight and to decrease their coronary artery disease risk.
"If you were sticking to your fast days, then in terms of cardiovascular
disease risk, it didn't seem to matter if you were eating a high-fat or lowfat diet on your feed (non-fast) days," she said.
Dr Mosley couldn't manage alternate day fasting but did a five:two ratio,
five days normal eating and two days of under 600 calories.
He stuck to this diet for five weeks, during which time he lost nearly a
stone and his blood markers, like IGF-1, glucose and cholesterol, improved.
He said: "If I can sustain that, it will greatly reduce my risk of contracting
age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes."
"Alternate day fasting is another way of reducing the overall amount of
calories eaten to help with weight loss," according to Emer Delaney from
the British Dietetic Association.
"There has been some debate recently that this 'new' way of eating can offer major health benefits, however there simply isn't the evidence to back
this up."