The Two-Day Diet was developed from scientific studies1,2 conducted by UK researchers, Dr Michelle Harvie and Professor Anthony Howell at the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Centre, part of The University Hospital of South Manchester. Being overweight significantly increases a person’s risk of developing breast cancer and so Dr Harvie and Prof Howell spent years researching and developing a diet to help people not only lose weight easily but keep it off. The diet involves two consecutive semi-fasting days with a very low carbohydrate intake. However, unlike 5:2/The Fast Diet or Eat Stop Eat, the non-fast days require you to follow a Mediterranean diet. Dr Harvie and Prof Howell have published a book which guides you through choosing the right foods on fast days and non-fast days.
How do I do it?
Fast days: on two consecutive days a week eat a very low carbohydrate diet. There is no calorie counting but you must choose from a restricted list of low carbohydrate foods.
Non-fast days: eat a healthy Mediterranean diet, with a focus on vegetables, nuts and seeds and unsaturated fat.
FastDay says: the semi-fasting days actually work out at a ‘generous’ 1000 calories, which makes it sound easier, but it is more complicated to follow and involves dieting on the other 5 days as well. The scientific research did not use the exact same diet as is recommended in the book, and did not show such rapid weight loss as has been observed with the 5:2 diet, perhaps due to the higher calorie allowance on the semi-fasting days. However, the scientific studies behind the diet are interesting and suggest that the two consecutive days of very low carbohydrate intake may be more important than the fasting aspect in this diet.
Is this the one for you? Jump straight to Getting started: your first fasts