Thursday, 22 November 2012

Stolen from Wikipedia


The diet

The diet involves very low calorie restriction for two days a week and allows normal eating for the other five days.[1] Although the number of calories consumed on the two days a week is restricted it is up to the particular dieter how they divide it throughout the day, men can consume 600 calories and women 500 calories.[2] A typical fasting day may be a breakfast of 300 calories such as two scrambled eggs with ham, water, green tea or black coffee and a lunch or dinner of grilled fish or meat with vegetables amounting to 300 calories.[1] The Daily Mail said of the diet, "Gorging yourself on as many burgers, chips and cakes as you like one day then eating fewer calories than you find in a cheese sandwich the next might sound like a worrying eating disorder. But this regime of chomping away to your heart’s content one day, and virtually starving yourself the next is the latest diet craze. It’s known as ‘intermittent fasting’ or ‘alternate-day dieting’,and devotees insist the pounds just drop off."[3]

[edit]Research

Studies conducted by the Baltimore National Institute on Aging reveal that fasting once or twice a week lowers IGF-1 levels, which encourages fat burning, and can protect the brain against diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.[2] Test conducted on mice have revealed that controlling the levels of IGF-1 through fasting can promote longevity; high levels of IGF -1 in later life promote ageing, although is needed in youth for growth.[1] However, the general medical consensus is that fasting has not been researched extensively enough to conclude its benefits.[1] Villagers in Ecuador suffering from the extremely rare Laron syndrome in which they can't produce IGF-1 have showed an immunity to diseases such as cancer and diabetes and exceptional longevity.[1] But they exhibit extremely short stature and typically stand less than 4ft, due to them being restricted the hormone in their childhood development.[1]





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