[Hum]

This week geneticist Frances Ashcroft says that everyone should give up eating for a day a week.

?My bright idea is for those in the developed world to fast one day a week. Three hundred and thirty six million people worldwide now have type 2 diabetes.

This is not good because it increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and amputation.It causes one death every seven seconds. In the UK alone we spend a staggering million pounds an hour in treating the disease ? almost 10% of the healthcare budget.

The recent explosion in type 2 diabetes is driven by the obesity epidemic and the best way to solve the problem is for everyone to maintain a sensible weight.

We all know what we have to do ? eat less and exercise more. But most of us don?t find it easy to calculate calories or eat the right sized portion of food.

Fasting is cheap, simple and has a long tradition in many cultures.

Obviously it is important to check with your doctor before doing so and to take plenty of fluids, but fasting for one day each week may make us healthier, happier and longer lived.?

source

[Unobscured Vision]

Ridiculous. The reason there's an "Obesity Epidemic" is because of all the completely uneccessary additives that are put into most of the food we buy -- and fast food has more additives than most.

If anything, one should strive to limit fast food intake to once or twice a month, maximum.

Sure there are people who overeat -- but there are far less overeaters than one would think.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I tend to go against the normal health ideas of "three meals a day, no snacking in between." Instead I tend to eat when I am hungry, and my body seems to have found a way - for the most part - to work on small amounts of food in those meals to balance out the snacking in between.

I am by no means saying that what I do is safe, nor am I saying that it is healthy. But in my mind, I eat when I want, and I eat what I want. Internal health aside (something that I cannot judge without a doctor's diagnosis) I am not large, I am not anorexic. I can lift weights, I have stamina, and I have endurance. I may die in the next 5 years, I may die tomorrow. For all I know I will live to be over 100. Do I care? Not at all.

Life is for living how you want. If your lifestyle means you die before your peers then fine, if you outlive them then fine. I don't consider it a challenge, I consider it just to be the normal way of things.

With the above said, I can't disagree with what this guy says, but I can't say that he is spot on the money. And no one should care either way.

[Detection]

I eat when I want and drink when I want, if I put on weight or lose weight as a side effect then so be it

[compl3x]

We all know what we have to do ? eat less and exercise more.

A message that has been lost because of all of the charlatans out their selling their snake oil, claiming it can help you lose weight without dieting or exercising.

I think his idea has merit. Going without food for one day wouldn't kill you. You could easily live on water alone for the day, or intake vitamins/minerals in liquid form. Interesting. Friday or Saturaday might be the better day considering on weekends people probably can't be bothered cooking and buy lots of fast food.

[DocM]

I'm a grazer with 6 meals a day; 6:30 AM, (upper body workout),10:00 AM, 12:30 PM, (lower body workout), 3:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 9:00 PM.

No processed grains (whole or multi-grains only), low overall carbs, lean meats, chicken & fish, lots of veggies (at least 1/2 my plate) etc.

[Growled Member]

In other words, fasting is good for you? I thought everyone knew that.

[DocM]

Calorie restriction is good for you as long as the diet is balanced and not so few calories that you end up looking like Christian Bale in Machinist. Not convinced about fasting.

[mattmatik]

The problem is we have been conditioned to eat the high number of calories we are currently consuming. Some friends and I started calorie counting back in August - its both amazing and disgusting to actually see in detail how much we consumed prior to restricting. I think the idea of the fasting just gives you an extra calorie deficit; but this can be accomplished by doing some form of exercise every day, too. Granted, you'd have to do a hell of a lot of exercise to equal one day's worth of fasting but spread over a week its not bad at all.

I currently am exercising 5-6 times per week at about 45 minutes, giving me about 500-600 calories each session, giving a weekly total of around 2500-3200 calories burned. A lot of people consume that much in a day = one day fasting. The problem is, most people will try and fast a day and the next day eat 1.5 times their normal calorie intake. So, there's no benefit.

I'm with DocM, restrict and balance. Consistently, every day. You will get used to it and its a lot easier.

[User6060]

This person is not a nutritionist. Fasting is never good. Just teaches your body to absorb and store all lipids (fat) next meal.

How about eat right and do exercise. Balance caloric intake with energy expenditure.

[-T- Member]

Yeah this doesn't work, I skip eating a few days a week and i'm still a fat turd

[The Evil Overlord]

What? Don't eat one day a week? I'll starve...

What about breakfast, brunch, elevenses, lunch, mid tea snacks, afternoon tea, supper, midnight feast????

[Detection]

I fast 7 times a week, every night from around 2am to around 12pm the next day

[MikeChipshop Member]

I was fast becoming over weight this year and then i watched an episode of Horizon that was about living longer by eating less. The presenter showed us a diet where for two days a week you only eat 600 calories and the rest of the week you can eat as you please.

I thought i'd give it a go and it's been amazing. I don't really feel hungry on the limited days (there's a lot you can do with 600 calories to play with) and i managed to loose a couple of stone bringing me back in to the safe weight limit i'm now spot on what a healthy man my age should be, funny thing was as soon as i reached a healthy weight, i stopped losing weight!

Apart from the weight loss, i feel awesome! I mean i feel really awesome. No bloating, no digestive issues, everything feels good. I have more energy and drive.

I'd recommend it to any one that wants to feel good. I wasn't ridiculously overweight before, a couple of stone probably, but the health benefits are amazing

Link to an article about the episode of Horizon... http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/aug/06/eat-fast-and-live-longer

[Dan~]

If it's in your family history and you eat like a pig then this sounds like a good idea.

[McKay]

Wouldn't your body just go into Starvation Mode and hold onto more calories and make more fat the next time you eat?

[Rohdekill]

I eat, drink anything I want, as much as I want. Yet, I weigh the exact same, every year, since 1983. +/- 2 pounds.

[moloko]

I eat two meals a day and 1 snack and do exercise and no soda. Guess what Im not fat!!

exercise....15 minutes a day while watching kids and tv. It is so easy. Just have to not be lazy.

[vcfan]

how about instead of fasting one day a week, you exercise a few days a week? maybe thats better advice? notice how sometimes non obese people also get diabetes? theres a hormone in fat cells that causes insulin resistance,and its more active when you're not active. the more fat you carry,the higher the risk, but exercise will work wonders.

[siah1214]

I eat two meals a day and 1 snack and do exercise and no soda. Guess what Im not fat!!

exercise....15 minutes a day while watching kids and tv. It is so easy. Just have to not be lazy.

For real, it's not that hard. People just like to blame it on other stuff. Unless you have thyroid problems (odds are, you don't), a lifestyle change will fix the problem.

[psionicinversion]

starving yourself for 1 day a week is pointless cus the next day youll eat more than you normally would cus although your body wont mind that much your brain will think i need to eat more.

just excercise and thats it

[123456789A]

I agree about the amount of additives in foods today. I try to avoid processed foods when I can, and if I'm going to eat anything that has been processed, I try to avoid AMD.

[vcfan]

Wouldn't your body just go into Starvation Mode and hold onto more calories and make more fat the next time you eat?

thats actually a myth created by people selling diet plans like those low carb, or low fat ones.

its simple physics. your body needs energy for its daily work. if you give it too much energy,the extra is stored as fat. you give it too little, then it needs to get it from somewhere.

if you give it just a little lower, then the body will convert fat to energy and preserve muscle.

if you eat way too little, then converting fat to energy is too slow, the body needs energy pronto,so what happens? your body start taking your muscle instead,because the conversion happens quick.

you will still lose "weight" by eating too little, but most of it is going to be from muscle rather than fat.

if your car didnt have gas in the tank, does it go into starvation mode? no it dies completely. if your cell phone battery didnt have enough juice,does it go into starvation mode? my point being,if your body wasnt getting enough energy,and was really in starvation mode, you would be in a coma

[leesmithg]

She should mind her own business and eat a bit more rather than looking skeletal.

[giantsnyy]

Ridiculous. The reason there's an "Obesity Epidemic" is because of all the completely uneccessary additives that are put into most of the food we buy -- and fast food has more additives than most.

If anything, one should strive to limit fast food intake to once or twice a month, maximum.

Sure there are people who overeat -- but there are far less overeaters than one would think.

Yes, additives are a problem. I strive to eat mainly organic foods even though they are a bit pricier. Over regulation is what causes companies to do this... they'll use whatever they can to fit into the regulations and save as much money as they possibly can doing it. Food availability is the biggest problem. Why should I be able to drive around for 20 minutes in my town and find over 20 fast food restaurants? People wouldn't be as obese if they didn't have as many opportunities to eat the garbage fast food restaurants produce.

Also, instead of eating 3 large meals a day and snacking (or not) in between those meals, eat 6 small meals. When you eat less and in greater frequency your metabolism increases, burning fat to compensate.