DR MICHAEL MOSLEY’S 5:2 RECIPES FOR ONE
5:2 RECIPES FOR ONE
SEVEN years ago, almost to the day, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Rather than take medication, I chose to tackle the problem myself by experimenting with my diet. Extensive research told me that cutting my calories for just two days a week could have a profound effect on my health.
Within a few months, I’d lost nearly a stone and a half and my blood-sugar levels were no longer considered diabetic. I coined my eating routine ‘The 5:2 diet’ and shared details of the discovery in what would become an international bestselling book.
In the five years that followed, I’ve witnessed a revolution in weight-loss research that has transformed the lives of millions. Type 2 diabetes is no longer a life sentence with patients reliant on endless pills to keep them alive and well.
But the benefits of eating in this way – so-called intermittent fasting – span way beyond these two (very important) things.
Some scientists now believe that this kind of eating plan may play a role in reducing the risk of cancers, heart disease, depression and even dementia.
Although research is still in the very early stages, I think the potential is exciting, not least because of the thousands of positive stories I’ve now heard from followers of my 5:2 diet, some of whom have been diabetes-free for a few years now.
However, amid the overwhelmingly positive feedback was one common complaint. ‘But I’m only cooking for one!’ many protested.
So, to coincide with the release of my latest book – The Fast 800, an updated, supercharged version of the original 5:2 – I’ve compiled a collection of mouthwatering, calorie-controlled recipes that are especially designed to be eaten solo.
After all, just because you want to diet, it doesn’t mean your other half does too. Meanwhile, the number of people living alone has grown in the past two decades with almost
four hundred thousand Irish adults in single person households.
The plan is simple: stick to 800 calories on two Fast Days, while eating a normal, balanced Mediterranean-style diet the rest of the time. For those looking to lose more weight, quickly, try sticking to 800 calories a day, every day, for six weeks.
As I explain in the book, studies have shown that you could shed up to two stone in just three months. And the meals featured in this special pullout will make that process not only easy, but a pleasure.
As I’ve said, each recipe is designed to make a single portion – with the exception of a few, such as granola, which you can store and enjoy over a number of days. The calorie counts given in all cases are per single portion.
If you want to make a dish work for more than one, simply multiply the number of ingredients by the number of diners. But before we get started, here’s a quick update of why this diet really does work. THE WEIGHT COMES OFF... AND STAYS OFF MOST people who go on mainstream diets don’t manage to keep the weight off. But studies have shown that people on the 5:2 are able to lose weight, long-term.
One recent Australian study showed that those eating the 5:2 way lost more than a stone, on average, and had kept it off a year later.
In the UK, the NHS website recognises its lasting benefits, stating that two days of dietary restriction can be more sustainable than traditional diets, leading to reductions in ‘body fat, insulin resistance and other chronic diseases’. SLIMMING CAN REVERSE TYPE 2 DIABETES AS WE all know, we are facing a crisis in type 2 diabetes, with one patient diagnosed every three minutes. But a pioneering 2018 study of 298 diabetics showed that eating a diet of 800 calories every day for up to five months can, in fact, put many cases of diabetes into reverse.
Scientists from the University of Glasgow and University of Newcastle saw participants lose an average of one-and-a-half stone and, in many cases, their blood sugars returned to normal.
Almost half were able to come off their medication and were declared ‘in remission’.
Last month, a follow-up study revealed the most remarkable finding yet: two years on, most of those patients’ diabetes was still in remission. Compared to a control group who followed conventional NHS advice, they were far slimmer, had lower cholesterol and reduced blood pressure and reported a much better quality of life.
As one of the study’s authors, Professor Mike Lean, told me: ‘For years we have been telling patients with type 2 diabetes to take the pills. This is a serious disease with nasty complications, particularly if you develop it in your 40s or 50s. The good news is that, with the right help, many people can now get shot of this horrible disease.’ FASTING CAN BOOST YOUR BRAIN POWER ANOTHER set of promising findings shows that intermittent fasting could protect brain health.
Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the US, has spent decades looking into the impact of intermittent fasting on the brain. He has shown in animals that intermittent fasting stimulates the release of a protein called BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor. BDNF stimulates the creation of new brain cells and their connections, improving cognitive function and memory. The results of his latest study into the impact of 5:2 on people at risk of dementia are expected soon. MEDITERRANEAN FOOD GIVES A MOOD BOOST THE recipes across the following pages, and in my books, are based on the principles of the Mediterranean diet involving plenty of nuts, fish, olive oil and vegetables. This way of eating is good for the heart and the waist. It is also an effective way to reduce depression and anxiety. In fact, some research has shown that those who stick closest to a traditional Mediterranean diet are a third less likely to suffer depression than those who don’t.
Conversely, eating a diet containing lots of takeaways and highly processed food has been linked to greater incidence of depression. These studies don’t prove food either prevents or causes mental ill health – there may be other factors at play – but the association is there. THE DIET ALSO REDUCES YOUR RISK OF CANCER WE KNOW that being overweight or obese increases the risk of breast and bowel cancer. Excess fat, particularly around the gut, sends hormonal signals to the rest of your body telling your cells to divide more frequently, accelerating the growth of tumours, it is believed.
Studies on middle-aged women at increased risk of breast cancer have not only shown that the 5:2 is a more effective way to lose this type of belly fat than a conventional diet, but it also leads to reduced levels of hormones, such as insulin, that can drive cancer growth.
We also know that people eating high quantities of processed red meat such as bacon, ham and sausages and low amounts of wholegrain carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables have high rates of colon and bowel cancers.
But a Mediterranean-style diet low in processed meats but high in fibrerich veg and wholegrains – such as the one I champion – is known to reduce the risk of these cancers. It is thought that nitrates added to meat during the manufacturing process interact with the enzymes in the gut, increasing cancer risk.
For more information and support about how to follow this diet safely and effectively, visit thefast800.com.