Alternate Day Diet i
s a weight loss plan whose main premise is a drastic calorie restriction every other day. Basically, this diet is very simple. You alternate between the “Up“ and “Down“ days. During the “Up“ days, you can eat everything you want, while during the “Down“ days, your food intake should be limited.
This diet was devised by Dr. James Johnson, who, during the studies with the mice, discovered that alternating the high calorie intake days with the limited calorie intake days results in weight loss. Dr. Johnson came upon similar results while conducting the research with human volunteers and this diet supposedly helps the persons who suffer from asthma, arthritis, and type-2 diabetes.
Principles of Alternate Day Diet
On the Up days, you can eat whatever you want, but not to the point of overeating. Instead, you should eat just enough food to make you feel satiated and satisfied. On the other hand, on the next Down day, you should limit your food intake as much as possible. The first two weeks are the initial phase, when during the Down days, you must not eat more than 20 percent of your total calorie intake.
Specifically, that means that your food intake should vary between 300 and 500 calories. As the author says, “the most practical way to pull this off is through the replacement meals that are balanced and that significantly reduce your calorie intake.
After two weeks, what follows is a long-term diet phase, in which, during the Down days, you can eat the “real“ food, such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nonfat meat and low fat dairy products, and up to 35 percent of your standard calorie intake (around 700 kcal). After reaching your desired body weight, the author suggests the maximum intake of 60 percent of your standard calorie intake (around 1200 kcal) during the Down days, in order to maintain your achieved body weight.
The loss of 1.5 kg per week
Such dietary regime supposedly allows a weight loss of 1 to 1.5 kilograms per week, and without the physical exercise, which is not a mandatory part of the Alternate Day diet. The diet’s author, Dr. James Johnson, proudly claims that this kind of a circular way of dieting offers an additional perk, which is the activation of the so-called SIRT1 gene or simply the gene of “thinness“. The activated thinness gene enables further weight loss by inhibiting the storage of fats in the fat tissues and by increasing the metabolism of fats. The result is a faster metabolism and an easier control of your body weight.
Menu example
Example of a “Down“ day after the initial bi-weekly phase:
Breakfast
- Integral toast – 1 piece
- Dairy spread with reduced fat – 1 teaspoon
Lunch
- Lentil stew with vegetables – 1 plate
- Cooked chicken – 80 grams
Dinner
- Salad made of arugula, pepper, tomato, beans, 2 boiled eggs with a low-fat yoghurt dressing with spices
Advantages and disadvantages of Alternate Day Diet
Advantages
This diet is simple and does not forbid the intake of any kind of food. Also, the feeling of deprivation that is often associated with many diets is significantly reduced, which increases the probability of sticking to this diet for longer periods of time. Being that the calorie intake is limited to only every other day, the slowing down of metabolism, which is characteristic of the overly restrictive diets, does not occur.
Disadvantages
This diet does not promote the proper dietary habits or the balanced diet. The starvation during the Down days can be trumped in the Up days, when the probability of overeating is more possible.
Furthermore, the overly restrictive calorie intake during the Down days can result in dizziness and fatigue. The risk of an insufficient intake of important nutrients is increased, while the importance of physical exercise is not sufficiently emphasized.
The diet is not appropriate for persons who have a history of eating disorders, because it encourages the irregular dietary habits. Also, this diet must not be exercised by persons who suffer from diabetes.