The 5:2 Diet also known as The Fast Diet is a form of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting has been around for a long time, predominantly in the form of ‘ADF’ – Alternate Day Fasting, where ADFers fast every other day.

This particular variation of intermittent fasting was made popular and brought to the attention of the media by Dr Michael Mosley with his BBC Horizon documentary, Eat, Fast and Live Longer. The documentary aired in early August of 2012 and sparked various books including Kate Harrison’s 5:2 Diet Book and Dr Mosley’s own The Fast Diet book (co-authored with Mimi Spencer) along with a plethora of others and subsequent recipe books.

The original Horizon documentary, “Eat, Fast and Live Longer” can be seen here. For me, this was a life changer as I took to the diet immediately after watching it!

There’s also a really handy little video on YouTube “The Fast Guide to The Fast Diet” for those who don’t have or can’t be bothered to read the book.