getting used to a “no-carb” world, along comes a weight-loss trend even more difficult than forgoing bread: Forgoing food. Intermittent fasting (cycling between periods of fasting and eating) is the latest dieting craze to devour pop culture. The most buzzed about version is the “5:2” fast: Five days a week you eat like a normal human being, and the other two you, well, basically starve yourself. American talk show host Jimmy Kimmel used the 5:2 to shed kilos, and a small army has joined him. To visit 5:2’s website is to visit some sort of online tent revival: “It’s very easy to do and to maintain!” gushes one dieter. Another enthuses, “It makes me feel healthy and energetic!” According to science, it’s not bogus. In fact, fasting in short intervals allows you to “surprise” your body, which keeps your metabolism revved. There could be health benefits beyond just burning fat, too. A slew of studies have emerged suggesting that intermittent fasting, or “IF”, can trim cancer risks, lower cholesterol, improve insulin sensitivity, and even blunt the effects of a geing.
