The 5:2 Day diet has become increasingly popular of late after research from the UK has shown that it may be easier for people to stick to a 2-day diet rather than a daily diet, resulting in better weight loss.
How does it work? Basically, you follow a low carbohydrate energy restricted diet on two days of the week and unlimited amounts of food from a healthy eating plan on 5 days of the week.
There are now many ‘bestselling’ diet books out there promoting the 5:2 Day Diet for weight loss, but not all of them are based on evidence from the research and many include misinformation.
Some Myths about the 5:2 Day diets:
‘You can eat what you want on non-diet days and still lose weight and protect against disease’. Current evidence supporting 5:2 diet for weight loss is based on research whereby participants still followed a healthy balanced diet on non-diet days.
‘You can just focus on calories and it doesn’t matter what types of food you eat’. For those wanting to use this method for weight loss it is important to ensure that they are meeting their recommended nutrient intakes, consuming adequate amounts of fibre and healthy fats and not over consuming any one particular nutrient or food group.
So, yes the 5:2 Day Diet might be just what some people need to help them lose weight, but the usual healthy eating principles still apply. Talk to our Dietitians for more information. They can advise you whether the 5:2 Diet may work for you and provide your own personalised 5:2 Diet plan where appropriate.
