Series - Fast diet in 30 minutes - the expert guide to michael mosleys critically

INTRODUCTION

At a Glance

This book is an extended review of The FastDiet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting. The authors, Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer, present scientific and anecdotal evidence of the weight loss and other health benefits associated with intermittent fasting, outlining a detailed approach for how readers can incorporate fasting into their lives via a 5:2 diet (five days of normal eating and two days of fasting). They include several food suggestions for fasting days, during which dieters are allowed two meager meals, as well as other helpful tips. According to Mosley and Spencer, the 5:2 diet is sustainable in a way that other diets are not, because it is extremely flexible and does not require constant self-deprivation. Whats more, it kicks in the bodys self-repair mechanisms, thus improving a persons overall health while cinching up his or her waistline.

This review of The FastDiet starts with background information about the book and its authors, with a peek at the positive and negative responses of reviewers and other interested readers. This is followed by a synopsis, an in-depth discussion of the books key concepts, and a conclusion that wraps up the main points of the review. Also included are a list of key terms used by the authors and an annotated list of related books for further reading about fasting and conscious eating.

This review may well get you so excited about fasting that you decide to buy a copy of The FastDiet for yourself so that you can start this diet.

Understanding
The FastDiet

ABOUT THE BOOK

The FastDiet is a follow-up book to a science documentary entitled Eat, Fast, and Live Longer, which aired on BBCs Horizon television program. The documentary was such a phenomenal successboth in the United Kingdom and in countries around the worldthat it created considerable demand for more information about fasting and its potential health benefits. Enter The FastDiet.

Mosley, the principal author of the book, first tried fasting for personal reasons. He was middle-aged, prediabetic, and slightly overweight, with an unhealthful distribution of body fat. When he read the emerging medical research suggesting that fasting was a way to lower blood glucose levels, increase the bodys defenses against disease, and extend life expectancy, he decided it was worth a try. Mosley made himself the chief test subject for the aforementioned documentary, for which he interviewed several of the leading scientists behind this research and tried several different approaches to fasting. The results were staggering: he lost weight, lowered his blood sugar, and experienced other dramatic health improvements.

Written with coauthor Mimi Spencer, an award-winning journalist who has also improved her health via intermittent fasting, The FastDiet is a guidebook that summarizes the key points made in Eat, Fast, and Live Longer and provides the authors in-depth recommendations on the most sustainable ways to integrate fasting into everyday life.

Upon its publication, The FastDiet became an instant international best seller. In the United States, where it was published by Simon & Schusters Atria imprint in February 2013, it has spent several weeks on the New York Times hardcover best-seller list, reaching the number-one position at its peak.

More information can be found at TheFastDiet.co.uk.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT DR. MICHAEL MOSLEY

A native of England, Michael Mosley, MD, earned degrees in philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford before taking up medical studies at Royal Free Hospital in London and completing his training as a doctor. Rather than plunging into a health care practice after passing his medical exams, Mosley translated his multifaceted interests into a career with the BBC as a TV personality, producing award-winning science and history shows. Mosley was named Medical Journalist of the Year in 1995 by the British Medical Association for his investigative documentary about the causes for gastric ulcers. Eat, Fast, and Live began as a personal attempt to slow the rot and stop the clock of his own aging body, and the outcome was such a success that he is now inspiring people everywhere who would like to do the same.

ABOUT MIMI SPENCER

British journalist and author Mimi Spencer has been writing professionally for more than twenty years. For the past decade she has been a weekly columnist reporting on fashion, beauty, lifestyle, food, and body shape for the Mail on Sundays You magazine, a UK publication with more than three million readers. In 2000, Spencer won the British Fashion Journalist of the Year award while working as the fashion editor of the London Evening Standard. In addition to coauthoring The FastDiet, she is the author of the 2009 best seller 101 Things to Do Before You Diet (Rodale, 2009) and has been a contributor to several magazines and newspapers, including Harpers Bazaar, the Observer, the Times, and Vogue.

CRITICAL RECEPTION

The Upside

Both of The FastDiets authors received extensive publicity in the United States upon the release of the American version of the book, which likely contributed to its robust performance on the New York Times best-seller list. In March 2013, Jennifer Conlin, a New York Times reviewer, noted that Mosleys best-selling diet book had been number one on Amazon.co.uk almost every day since its release in January 2013, claiming that it had sent the British into a fasting frenzy. Mosley was interviewed by the Huffington Post and the Chicago Tribune about his experiences with fasting, and Mimi Spencer was interviewed in the New York Post as both the coauthor of the book and a glamorous example of the diets effectiveness. In a positive review, the Times of India claimed, Fasting on some days of the week and indulging on the others is the new lifestyle mantra.

British columnist Allison Pearson of the Telegraph tried the diet and reported, I no longer feel the need to sleep in the afternoon. I am perky as well as pinky. My stomach has definitely shrunk. The other night it protested when I tried to finish dinner: a world first. Scientists swear that the fasting diet will add years to your life. Me, Im just happy to have finally shifted that stubborn baby weight. About time, too. The baby was 17 last week.

Readers seem to be responding just as positively. On Amazon, one reviewer who gave the book five stars appreciates that it gets to the point and is a quick read. A Goodreads user calls it a great lifestyle change.

The Downside

While diet books are not typically reviewed, attitudes toward fasting as a form of dieting lean toward fearful and negative, as they do with anything that is not a mainstream practice. The cautious advice of the medical community was expressed in a WebMD article reviewed by Kimball Johnson, MD:

Researchers do not yet know whether the effects of fasting translate into an actual increase in lifespan, because they have not followed people for long enough periods of time. However the concept of intermittent fasting, such as skipping a meal purposefully on an intermittent basis, is gaining attention. It appears to be a relatively safe way to reduce caloric intake that is easier for some people to do. The data however is not there yet nor is this an accepted practice.

On USA Todays website, Nanci Hellmich claimed that Americans were less enthusiastic in their reception of the book, saying, [