By Katrina RoeThursday 17 Oct 2013Hope MorningsHealth and WellbeingReading Time: 1 minute
We’re always looking for ways to lose weight and improve our health. The eating obsession of the moment is Dr Michael Mosley’s 5:2 diet. You’ll see it being talked about on TV and discussed in newspaper columns.
The diet involves fasting two days per week, but eating normally on other days. Its creator, Dr Michael Mosley, says it helps the body repair itself and brings with it additional health benefits, such as stabilising blood sugar, lowering cholesterol and eradicating snoring.
Associate Professor Amanda Salis is an obesity and weight loss expert from Sydney University’s Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders. Her research into what scientists term ‘the famine reaction’ confirms many of the outcomes experienced by Dr Mosley. Normally dieters find their weight loss plateaus after losing 5–10 kilograms because the body’s ‘famine reaction’ slows down their metabolism.
When weight loss also slows, dieters become discouraged and give up. This new method of severe calorie restriction for a short timeframe may actually be more sustainable in the long term, but Dr Salis thinks more research is still needed to create even better results.
Audio: Hear Dr Amanda Salis explain her research into bypassing the famine reaction
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