Dr. Mosley's three diets: a specialist's experience
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
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For sure, many were inspired by the athletic build and healthy athletes at the Olympics, which was recently held in London.
Of course, to achieve such a result is not easy - to get a relief body of an athlete you need to train hard every day. Dr. Michael Mosley, on his own experience, tried to determine whether a diet can be an alternative to heavy physical exercises and prolong life.
As the scientist himself says, a few months ago he set himself the task of finding a way to stay young as long as possible, get rid of excess weight and find a way to longevity.
"Also, I would like to make a minimal change in my lifestyle and continue to enjoy the food that I love. After meeting with several scientific experts, I started to develop a diet that could become a challenge to traditional opinions about how and when we should eat. I was interested in the so-called periodic starvation.
Despite the fact that most religions justify fasting, I have always been skeptical about the claims about the medical benefits of such diets. I always adhered to the standard rule: never skip meals and do not exhaust yourself with strict diets. The reason for my negative attitude towards such abstinence from food was simple - people who are undernourished, trying to achieve the desired result in this way, often later put all their efforts to nothing. Hungry, they in large quantities begin to absorb snacks with a high fat content, promising to themselves tomorrow to punish themselves and not eat a single piece. Also unreliable and express-diets, thanks to which fast weight goes away. Basically, a person loses only water, a little fat mass, and sometimes a muscle in addition. "
First, Dr. Mosley was interested in the diet of Faudji Singh, who at 101 is the oldest marathon runner. However, the miniature marathon runner is a vegetarian, and he eats monotonously, that Dr. Mosley, a great lover of a tasty meal, does not like.
Then the doctor decided to resort to a periodic starvation, which was advised by Professor Walter Longo. The success of this method, he justified the unprecedented health of experimental mice. Under the supervision of Professor Longo, Dr. Mosley hungered for four days.
"I started my experiment on Monday night," he says. - Before that, I could not resist and finally allowed myself a sumptuous dinner of ruddy steak.
My hungry suffering ended on Friday, after I had passed all the tests.
During the hungry experiment, black tea, coffee and a large amount of water entered my diet.
On the first day I was convinced that hungry faints and visions of appetizing dishes await me and that in the end I will surrender and go straight to the nearest bakery, to taste crisp masterpieces of bakers.
However, my expectations were not confirmed, after the first twenty-four hours I felt great. And even more, a slight feeling of hunger passed, and I felt incredible ease.
On Friday morning I weighed and found that I had lost only two pounds of fat, but the blood glucose level had dropped significantly, and the blood insulin level that I had above the norm had decreased by half.
Thus, I learned that fasting is not at all self-torture and a chain of fainting. And most importantly, the "chemistry" of my body has improved.
However, Dr. Longo, under whose supervision I was, warned me that in order to maintain my form and the results achieved by starvation, I must change the diet and limit the amount of protein consumed. "
Since the products that bring most people maximum pleasure - meat and fish - are rich in proteins, Dr. Mosley had to abandon the method of Professor Longo.
Then Dr. Mosley addressed his colleague from the University of Illinois in Chicago Christa Varadi.
In a conversation with Dr. Vardi in the diner, weaving hamburgers and French fries, Dr. Mosley learned about her method of getting rid of excess weight. Dr. Varadi said that she is testing her technique on volunteers, and her essence is to not exclude from the diet your favorite foods, even a fat pizza. Thanks to the so-called diet of unloading days, one day you eat what you want, and the next - you limit the calories consumed.
Dr. Mosley spent two months every week organizing two days off - Tuesday and Thursday. He claims that after a short adaptation, he already adhered to this diet without much difficulty.
Dr. Varadi herself was surprised that her volunteers, including Dr. Mosley, did not eat gluttony on ordinary days after unloading, but ate normally, gradually getting used to healthy food.
After passing the tests after two months of experiment, Dr. Mosley was very pleased with the result. All the tested parameters - fat mass, glucose, insulin and cholesterol level in the blood - were better than before the beginning of the diet. Mosley felt light and cheerful and promised to continue to adhere to a diet of 5: 2 (5 "ordinary" days a week, 2 unloading), since this method suited him best.
However, neither Dr. Mosley nor Dr. Varadi believes that this method is universal. Such a diet can not suit every person, besides, the ration of unloading days is better to choose individually.
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