Quick Fasting A New Diet Trend?

Could a rapid two-day fast help you drop weight in the blink of an eye? NPR reports on the newest chapter in the dieting saga evolving daily. 

This new breed of diet, often referred to as 5-2 diets, involves fasting for two days out of every week, and eating filling and full-sized meals for the other five. Fasting in this case does not mean starvation, but rather cutting calorie intake down to a daily total of between 500 and 1,000 calories.

Though it might seem outrageous, this diet may have some scientific validity. Researcher Mark Mattson of Baltimore's National Institute on Aging has found that, based on lab studies in which mice are fed on fasting-type diets, there is evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting can manage body weight, improve blood sugar levels, and even enhance cognitive performance.

Mattson himself has been following a dietary plan of intermittent fasting and claims that though he does not need it to lose weight, the overall effects of the diet make him feel better.