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Detailed review of the 5:2 diet with links to scientific research

The 5:2 diet is one of the options for interval fasting, in which a person eats 5 days a week in the usual way, and limits the diet to 500-600 calories for the remaining 2 days.

The diet was popularized by British journalist Michael Mosley.

Such a diet is effective in order to correct body weight and prevent many diseases from the endocrine and cardiovascular systems. However, even such a diet has contraindications and side effects that should be taken into account.

What does the 5:2 method mean?

The 5:2 diet is one of the varieties of periodic fasting, which involves eating in the usual way 5 days a week. Then, for 2 days, you should limit the amount of food to 25% of the daily requirement, which is about 500 calories for women, 600 calories for men.

At the same time, 2 days of fasting do not necessarily have to follow each other. Any alternation is allowed (at your own discretion). The most common option is to go hungry on Monday and Thursday. It is believed that in this case the body adapts better to this scheme.

On days when food intake is not limited, it is still recommended not to overeat, observing the daily calorie content of the diet. Excessive food consumption is fraught with leveling the positive properties of the diet and even the development of obesity.

To find out how many calories the body needs per day, you can use the following formulas:

For men: Daily calorie content = 88.36 + (13.4 x weight, kg) + (4.8 x height, cm) – (5.7 x age, years).

For women: Daily calorie content = 447.6 + (9.2 x weight, kg) + (3.1 x height, cm) – (4.3 x age, years).

The 5:2 diet is a scheme that involves eating in a "familiar rhythm" 5 days a week and limiting food intake to 500-600 calories in the remaining two days.

6 useful properties

Regardless of the specific scheme, Interval fasting is good for humans .

Protocol 5/2 also has proven beneficial properties. The main ones are considered below:

  1. Neuroprotective effect. Experiments on rodents conducted by American scientists, shown that , against the background of intermittent fasting, toxic damage to nerve tissues decreases.
  2. Prevention of atherosclerosis. Proven that the 5:2 protocol leads to reduction of total cholesterol and its atherogenic fractions in the blood. Cholesterol levels decreased by 21%, LDL – by 25%, TAG – by 32%. Dyslipidemia is the main risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis and related complications (coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, stroke).
  3. Weight loss. According to the data foreign scientists, when following a diet, weight decreases (on average) by 5.6 kg in 8 weeks.
  4. Prevention of type II diabetes mellitus. Specialists from the UK discovered that interval fasting increases the sensitivity of peripheral tissue cells to insulin, which has a positive effect on glucose metabolism in the body and significantly reduces the risk of early development of impaired glucose tolerance and type II diabetes mellitus.
  5. Strengthening the immune system. Employees of the Medical Center at the University of Louisiana (USA) revealed that against the background of systematic starvation, there is a decrease in the frequency of various infectious pathologies (acute respiratory infections and specific groups of diseases).
  6. Improvement of the course of bronchial asthma. A study conducted in 2007, demonstrated that interval fasting has a beneficial effect on the course of bronchial asthma and provides reliable prevention of exacerbations. The symptoms of pathology decreased significantly after 2 weeks.

A separate one should be noted one of the major studies spent in the USA. After 12 weeks, the following changes were detected in people following the 5/2 fasting regimen:

  • Weight loss by 5 kg;
  • Reduction of body fat by 3.5 kg;
  • TAG level drop by 20%, HDL increase;
  • Reduction or complete disappearance of CRP;
  • Decrease in leptin concentration by 40% (hunger hormone).
Thus, intermittent fasting 5/2 has a wide range of therapeutic properties: from weight loss to the prevention of diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis. Some results can be achieved quickly, while others will take at least a few months.

Effectiveness for weight loss

We have already written about the effectiveness of interval fasting for weight loss .

The 5/2 diet is a very effective weight loss regimen. It allows you to significantly limit the calorie content of the diet and speed up metabolism, but at the same time not lose muscle tissue.

Australian Scientists claim that intermittent fasting leads to significantly greater weight loss than the usual diets with limited intake of nutrients into the body. The technique reduces appetite and does not affect the adaptive mechanisms of energy regulation.

According to the data specialists from Canada, a year after the transition to systematic restriction of food, body weight, waist circumference, adipose tissue volume, as well as glycemic and cholesterol profiles completely return to normal.

As an example, we can cite several important studies that dealt with weight loss while observing periodic fasting:

  1. Reduction of total body weight by 3-8% with a fasting period of 3 weeks or more.
  2. Decrease Waist circumference by 4-7% in 3-8 weeks.
  3. Almost complete absence muscle tissue loss.
  4. High performance at combined such a diet regime with strength exercises. This combination leads to a significant increase in endurance.
The 5:2 diet is an effective way to lose weight, if all recommendations are followed correctly. This has been confirmed by numerous studies.

How to eat properly on fasting days?

The diet does not imply specific rules regarding the quality of the composition and time of meals on fasting days. Each person chooses an individual option for himself.

In most cases, people follow one of the following patterns:

  • 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner);
  • 2 meals (lunch and dinner).

The calorie content of the daily diet is limited: about 500 calories for women, 600 for men.

It is recommended to give preference Fiber-rich foods and protein. This will increase the feeling of satiety and satisfy hunger.

During the fasting days, the menu should be varied. Here are some options for dishes that you can give preference to:

  1. Vegetable salads. Any natural products (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots) are suitable.
  2. Natural yoghurts with berries (ideal option – strawberries, strawberries, blueberries).
  3. Hard-boiled or baked eggs.
  4. Lean meat.
  5. Fried fish.
  6. Rice with cauliflower.
  7. Soups.
  8. Black coffee or tea without sugar.
  9. Water or various sugar-free drinks (it is recommended to carefully study the composition in order to exclude the ingestion of large amounts of dyes, preservatives; flavor enhancers can increase appetite several times).

Recipes for dietary dishes

Below are some quick recipes that are ideal for fasting days using the 5:2 diet method.

Breakfast Spinach omelet 94 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • 1 medium egg;
  • 60 grams of fresh spinach.
  1. Beat the egg in a cup.
  2. Place in a non-stick frying pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the bottom of the future omelet is browned.
  3. Add spinach, salt and pepper to taste.
Breakfast Greek yogurt with berries 96 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • 3 tbsp Greek low-fat yogurt;
  • 50 grams of strawberries;
  • 50 grams of blackberries;
  • 1 fresh apricot.
  1. Cut the apricot into small squares. The berries can be left whole or crushed according to preference.
  2. Mix all the ingredients.
Breakfast Oatmeal porridge 99 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • ½ tsp honey;
  • 25 grams of oatmeal;
  • Water – to taste;
  • Cinnamon – to taste (1 pinch).
  1. Mix the flakes with boiling water. Let it brew for 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add honey and cinnamon.
Lunch Leek soup with potatoes 134 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • 2 large leeks (about 500 grams);
  • 30 grams of butter;
  • 2 cubes of vegetable broth;
  • 1 large potatoes (about 250 grams);
  • 100 grams of green peas;
  • 1 egg white;
  • Saffron (to taste);
  • 1 tbsp flour;
  • Frying oil (1 tsp.);
  • 1000 ml of water.
  1. Divide the onion into 4 parts. Set aside 1 part for garnish.
  2. Chop the rest of the onion, add butter, about 400 ml of water and cook until tender for about 10 minutes in an enameled saucepan (the onion should become soft).
  3. Add water to 1 liter. Add vegetable broth. Bring to a boil.
  4. Cut the potatoes into cubes, add to the total mass. Add the green peas. Cook for about 10 more minutes.
  5. In a separate bowl, mix the egg white with saffron, beat until frothy. Add flour.
  6. Divide the leeks into rings, dip them into the egg white mixture and fry in a frying pan until golden brown.
  7. Mix all the ingredients. The soup is ready.
Lunch Corn Puree salad 152 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • 2 corn on the cob;
  • 25 grams of butter;
  • 1 shallots;
  • 340 grams of sweet canned corn;
  • 5 tbsp cream;
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds.
  1. Preheat a large frying pan. Fry the corn on the cob until it is slightly charred.
  2. Remove the cobs, let cool slightly. Cut the kernels.
  3. Heat the oil with shallots in a separate saucepan. Add canned corn and cream, mix thoroughly. Beat the mass in a blender until creamy.
  4. Mix all the ingredients.
Dinner Chinese Vegetable Soup 170 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil;
  • 125 grams of mushroom hangers;
  • 1 red pepper;
  • 125 grams of broccoli;
  • 1 medium-sized carrots;
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce;
  • 300 grams of noodles (ready to eat);
  • 1 lime.
  1. Peel and finely chop the carrots, broccoli, red pepper, and mushrooms.
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the vegetables, mushrooms and simmer over low heat for about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add soy sauce and juice squeezed from 1 lime to the pan. Simmer for about 1-2 more minutes.
  4. Mix all the ingredients with the noodles. Serve hot.
Dinner Fast Fish Burger 141 calories
Ingredients Cooking method
  • 400 grams of fillet of white fish (hake, pollock);
  • 5 tbsp chopped green parsley.
  • 50 grams of capers (alternative – pickled green tomatoes);
  • Zest of 1 lemon.
  • Salt and pepper – to taste;
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil;
  • 1-2 tbsp flour.
  1. Finely chop the fish, then chop in a food processor or blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
  2. Add the parsley, capers, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
  3. Form several burgers from the mass, with a diameter of about 9 cm.
  4. Heat the oil in a frying pan, sprinkle with flour and lay out the burgers.
  5. Cook over medium or low heat for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
  6. Serve with vegetable salad and tartar sauce.
The range of low-calorie dishes is huge. The main thing is to carefully follow all the recommendations of the 5/2 nutrition protocol in order to achieve the desired results.

Safety, contraindications

In the first days of interval fasting, a strong feeling of hunger may appear, but after a few days it disappears.

Also at the beginning of the diet, the following side effects may develop due to the low energy value of the diet:

  • Weakness;
  • Vertigo;
  • Drowsiness;
  • Photopsies (sticks or flies in front of the eyes).

The development of these reactions indicates exhaustion of the body and should serve as a reason to stop the diet or temporarily change its rules (increase the amount of food consumed).

If headaches and stool disorders such as constipation occur, you need to stop the diet and consult a doctor.

It is important to note that the 5:2 diet has important contraindications:

  1. Diseases of the digestive system (cholelithiasis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum).
  2. Pregnancy and breastfeeding.
  3. Body weight deficit (BMI less than 18.5).
  4. Pathologies of the female reproductive system accompanied by infertility.
  5. Age less than 14 and over 75 years old.
  6. Hyperthyroidism.
  7. Chronic cardiac (IIb-III), liver or kidney failure.
  8. Cirrhosis and viral hepatitis.
  9. Hypertension.
  10. Type I diabetes mellitus.
If there are contraindications, the 5:2 scheme can do much more harm than good. It is recommended to consult a doctor beforehand to assess the condition of your own body and its readiness for short-term starvation. With the development of side effects, the diet regime should be "softened" or abandoned.

Conclusion

  1. Thus, the 5/2 fasting scheme is a simple and effective way to reduce body weight and improve the health of the entire body.
  2. The diet allows you to normalize the concentration of glucose and cholesterol in the blood, prevent a number of serious diseases from the cardiovascular and endocrine systems.
  3. It is equally important to monitor the energy value of the diet on days when the calorie content is not limited. Overeating can negate all beneficial properties.
  4. In case of side effects or contraindications, it is recommended (at least temporarily) to abandon the diet and consult a doctor.
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