Eating’s cheating

If the thought of detoxing to get the derriere you desire fills you with dread, don’t worry. Despite celebs like BEYONCE, BRITNEY and CHRISTIAN BALE relying on militant body detoxes to lose weight – fast! – recent reports suggesting that detoxing could actually be dangerous for your body have forced devotees to find other ways to ways to shift those unwanted kilos. Introducing the alternate day fast…

What is it?

Alternate day fasting is the latest diet craze to promise brilliant bulge-busting results with minimum effort. Perfect for those who can only ever stick to a calorie-controlled diet for a couple of days before caving in over the merest sniff of a chocolate biscuit, ADF allows you to eat one day and fast the next – which may sound hideous, but is reportedly safer and far easier to stick to than your standard detox, as well as being more effective at kissing those love handles goodbye.

How does it work?

According to scientists, the classic calorie seesaw – drastically cutting down your food one day, utterly starving the next – is actually pretty good for you if you’re trying to lose weight. Admittedly rather controversial, boffins studying ADF have proved that restricting calories for 24 hours and reintroducing them the following day will not only shift kilos and shrink fat cells, but could help you live longer.

The science bit

Scientists say we are genetically programmed to adapt to cycles of fasting and feasting, like our hunter gatherer ancestors who, depending upon whether anyone managed to catch dinner or not, ate intermittently. Researchers say the temporary withdrawal of food for short periods of time stresses the body in a good way, activating a gene called Sirt1, which helps the body use fats in the bloodstream for energy.

The rules

This is pretty much a no-brainer. Don’t expect to lose weight if you pig out on stuffed-crust pizzas and triple cheeseburgers from dawn till dusk just because you won’t eat anything the following day…

Food Days: Women can consume between 1,200 and 1,800 calories, while men should aim for between 1,800 and 2,400 calories. Sweets, sugar-laden desserts, fried, fast foods, fizzy drinks and fatty foods are banned. Eat a big breakfast, like porridge with fruit and wholemeal toast, tuck into as much fresh fruit and veg as you like, and choose lean proteins, fish, good carbs like wholegrain bread, pasta and rice as your staples. No second helpings allowed!

Fast Days: Are tough! No more than 300 calories can be consumed in any 24-hour period. Lots of water and small amounts of tomato juice, orange juice, vegetable juice or drinking yoghurt are permitted, along with a little protein powder. Yummy!

The good news

Researchers have found that eating half as much as usual every other day could shrink fat cells and boost some of the body’s mechanisms for breaking down fat. Studies have also shown that dieters who followed ADF for just three weeks lost an average of 2.5 per cent of their body weight and four per cent of their total body fat.

The bad news

Probably best not to do this diet when you’re feeling hormonal. Studies say that fasting on alternate days makes you tired, tetchy, irrational and, surpisingly enough, really hungry! But beauty is pain…

For more information, visit www.eatqod.com