The 5:2 Diet

The purpose of this diet is to reduce the amount of the hormone IGF-1 (insulin like Growth factor), it is not a weight loss diet, IGF-1 influences the behaviour of body cells.  When humans were evolving their diet was one of Feast and Famine.  During the feast times the body had enough protein to enable it to replicate cells, this included any faulty cells, genetic errors and that sort of thing.  During the famine time the body did not have enough resources to replicate so it changed to repair mode which used much less energy and protein, in repair mode it could easily fix up the few errors in the cells which in turn reduced the spread of diseases carried by the cells.  The aim of the 5:2 diet is to get as close as possible to the benefits of feast and famine eating, if followed properly the body will switch to repair mode on the two days of reduced calories.  There are enormous benefits to this, reduction of cholesterol, high blood pressure, improved immune system are just a few.

There is a book written by the originator of the 5:2 diet Michael Mosley, he was assisted by Mimi Spencer in this scholarly publication.  I would recommend reading this book but if you would like a very quick digest go to this Audio called "The Fast Diet Quickly", it is well narrated by Kevin Partner and in six minutes twenty seconds you should understand the 5:2 diet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Aj6hRYg4A 

Normally men would consume about 2,400 calories per day and ladies about 2,000 per day, on two days a week these are reduced to 600 and 500 calories, these do not have to be consecutive days.  It is important to calculate the number of calories accurately, guessing is too difficult.  We use a 'nutrition kitchen scale' which we obtained from our local ALDI store, this is not a regular line for them but we have noticed that identical models are available on eBay, they have the following appearance:

The scale will weigh up to 5 Kgs and comes with a book of three digit food codes, once the correct code is entered the electronic scale displays the number of calories, the amounts of salt, protein, fat, carbohydrate and fibre. It is essential to be as accurate as possible with the calorie count.  The diet is not hard to follow and the following gives an idea of what I've been able to eat in a single day.  I usually have lunch and an evening meal:

This is lunch of 321.5 calories, I find quite adequate especially after no breakfast and just lots of tea or water.

Not quite as many calories at 278.5 but I was able to include a vege-burger with a poached egg and a small piece of banana to make up the balance.  

The whole idea of the 5:2 diet came from the TV Documentary Program by Michael Mosley and called "Eat, Fast and Live Longer".  Here is a link to the original show:

http://documentaryheaven.com/eat-fast-and-live-longer/

At the time of writing I've been on the 5:2 diet for about three months.  I find it quite easy to follow and look forward to the two consecutive days that I chose rather than two separate days.  At the moment indications are that it is helping me to achieve my aim of reducing the size of my cancer tumours; my CEA or Tumour Indicator has dropped by 8% since starting the diet.  The important test will be my next CT Scan in a couple of months time.

Here's a link to the 5:2 Diet Forum

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/

... and for those who need exercise but haven't got the time:

Can three minutes of exercise a week help make you fit?