to think this 5:2 diet craze is likely to lead to an increase in anorexia

[sarahseashell]

.. in the longer term?

obviously that's just my own thoughts on the subject but I do sadly think that's what'll happen

Years ago DH had a burst stomach ulcer that landed him in A&E and emergency surgery as a direct result of skipping meals for a couple of months. He'd often skip lunch and breakfast and only eat in the evenings.

He had no idea he had an ulcer till it burst - So be wary of having an empty stomach long term.

Pavlovs dog - stomach expects food so creates acid. No food = stomach starts digesting itself = ulcer

That's what the doctors told him ^^

HopeForTheBest I think you would, yes, and weight loss is a trigger. However, I don't think this diet is the only one out there to trigger disordered eating in those susceptible and I do think the causes behind easting disorders - all of them - are much deeper and more complex than just a physical trigger.

hopeforthebest, yes. And Dr Mosley, who came up with this approach, switched to a 6: 1 method of maintenance once he had lost enough weight.

Good post Ev1lEdna.

Personally my issue with the 5:2 diet is that it removes the association between hunger and eating. I think the most sensible way of eating is to learn to respond to your body - eat when you are hungry, stop when you are not. Too many of us eat for reasons other than hunger (stress, boredom etc), and this diet might encourage that.

Just wanted to say this diet has worked well for me. I am fortunate not to have a tendency towards anorexia. I have however been overweight - bmi around 27 - for about 20 years.
In this time I have tried other diets; some sensible, some less so. None were successful long term.
I began 5:2 at the end of Jan, 6 months in, I have lost a stone and a half and have reduced my BMI to 24. After all this time I am officially no longer fat.
What works for me is the psychology. I can have a biscuit tomorrow if I want one. But generally I find I just eat healthily on my 5 normal days without obsessing about food in any way. Finally I feel that food is not an issue for me.
I can't definitively comment on whether this diet would push people into eating disorders, but as others have said it would seem no more likely than any other diet.

Yabu.

Anorexia is a mental health problem not a diet.

the word 'fasting' is wrong imo

according to threads on here it doesn't look like its possible to lose massive amounts on this diet

OP - Nope. It might be bad for someone who actually was anorexic anyway (if they used it as Thereonthestair describes and were doing 2:5 not 5:2) - but for most of us if we've struggled not to get overweight it is actually a way to escape 'dieting' - most of the time eating normally rather than the everlasting 'watching what you eat'.

Anyway, a lot of people are doing it primarily for health benefits - if I wasn't also exercising all it would do is enable me to mainly eat normally without gaining weight.

I think the most sensible way of eating is to learn to respond to your body - eat when you are hungry, stop when you are not.

yes - and a lot of people doing 5:2 find it easier to do this on the non-fast days.

I never eat breakfast or lunch, I don't feel hungry until I have something to eat really. That's why people think "I couldn't ..." if you have breakfast you want lunch and then an evening meal. If you skip both you feel quite neutral towards your dinner.

My OH has tried it for a few weeks, and didn't find it any more effective than just watching what he's eating and exercising more. I don't think it's particularly good tbh, and he was just starving all the time.

I cant wait to try it. Ill be doing 4 fasting 3 eat normally to lose baby weight.

I don't know about disordered eating, so I can't say.
What I've learned from it is that it's is all right to feel hungry, nothing bad will happen to me.
Personally I was not used to feeling hungry, and as food is so readily available, if I felt peckish I was looking for something to take that feeling away.
This was wrong for me and fixing it has been valuable.
The health benefits appeal to me as well.
But an increase in anorexia? No idea.

DH's friend has been on it since January, he's lost 2 and a half stone. He's done really well and loves the diet. It's not for me as it was too little and I was dizzy.

I think the idea that a diet can lead to eating disorders isn't a sound one, eating disorders are often routed in more than just weight loss. I don't think the 5:2 diet is any more or less likely to lead to someone developing a ED

I just don't understand why it would ever be a consideration as a 'healthy eating plan'. Why not just eat PROPERLY 7 days a week, and move a bit more?

because no-one makes any money out of that, so it isn't pushed by anyone except the medical profession. Doesn't make interesting journo-babble.

Exactly, Specialsubject.

And goodtouchbadtouch, you will make yourself ill doing 4 fasting.

I suffered from anorexia in the past.

Potentially, any controlled diet could "lead" to anorexia because (in my case anyway) it was the fact that I could control this part of my life and no other that gave me the buzz.

When in the grip of anorexia, the satisfaction from reducing your food intake more and more is not about trying to look better, be more beautiful, be a model. It is all about the control.

Sorry, posted too soon.

I believe that there has to be an underlying problem in the first place for a diet to "lead" to anorexia.

specialsubject who is making money? There's no special shakes or foods to eat, in fact shopping bills tend to reduce on this way.

goodtouchbadtouch that sounds like a really really bad idea.

Yep, no one's making money from me doing 5:2! In fact, there are plenty of people who are losing out because I don't buy as much crap food as I used to!

I thought there were books about it? And journalism of course

badgers gastric ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection.
Not skipping breakfast.

There are books. They're not essential. And even if they were, they're about a fiver. No weekly fees to Slimming World, Weight Watchers etc.

Goodtouchbadtouch don't do 3:4 please. Do 4:3 if you feel you need to but nobody will advise you to do 3:4.

'The nation's reading in the first half of the year has been dominated by Dan Brown and diet books, with a peppering of literary and break-out fiction, sales figures reveal.

The 5:2 Fast Diet, a regime of intermittent fasting during which dieters eat normally five days a week and then for two days cut calorie intake by three quarters, has sold 402,887 copies ? making it the No 2 bestseller.'

No, of course no one's making actual MONEY out of it. (that's from the Guardian, Tues 9th July)