The 6:1 diet experienced its first hype a few years ago, and the intermittent fasting trend has brought it back into the spotlight. FITBOOK spoke to a nutritionist about how being able to eat “normally” for six days and fasting for one day can help you lose weight.
Uwe Knop is a qualified nutritionist and medical PR expert. His specialty is the exploitation of scientific studies with a focus on nutritional trends and their impact on health. Likewise the «sick slimming business», as he calls it. FITBOOK spoke to him about the hype surrounding the 6:1 diet.
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After the 5:2 comes the 6:1 diet
Physician Tilman Friedrich and health author Nadja Nollau describe the «simple rules» of the 6:1 diet in their book «The 6:1 diet: eat 6 days, fast for 1 day» (Südwest-Verlag). how it works For most of the week you can eat as you please, on day seven only broths, low-calorie drinks and a selection of smoothies are allowed. This is reminiscent of the 5:2 diet.
And indeed: The 6:1 diet is the softer version of the 5:2 diet, which (with the sacrifice of at least two days of fasting per week) promised success in losing weight just a few years ago. The basic idea is the same: by not eating, you save a proportion of the weekly calories and lose weight as a result.
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Fasting is becoming increasingly popular
Various health experts, sports and nutrition scientists are convinced of the positive effect of regular fasting periods. About Dr. Matthew Riedl. The nutrition expert from Hamburg refers to our ancestors, who still had to hunt or gather their own food and were therefore not used to regular meals. Alternating between periods of fasting and food intake is therefore “human nutrition that is appropriate to the species”, according to Riedl.
The Konstanz sports scientist and health consultant Dr. dr Michael Despeghel, to reduce the intake to 500 calories per day two days a week and eat «normally» on the other five days – keyword intermittent fasting!
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But is it really possible to lose weight?
No matter how regular fasting is said to be beneficial to health – qualified ecotrophologist Knop does not believe that the 6:1 diet will have a weight-loss effect. At the end of the day, nothing else matters than the energy balance: the body will lose weight if you take in fewer calories than it uses. And it is precisely this calculation that does not work out with the 6:1 method. «A single fasting day does not save you enough calories per week to lose weight – on the contrary. On the other six days, the body gets back everything it missed on the fasting day,” the expert explains.
Anyone who feasts excessively on days one to six has not saved any calories through the fasting dayPhoto: Getty Images
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Conclusion
Anyone who does not suffer from chronic illnesses, eating disorders or circulatory problems and has already dealt with the subject of fasting can try the 6:1 method without hesitation. It is important to ensure that the lost food is not made up for by uninhibited feasting. In order to avoid cravings, the first meal after the fasting day is fat and protein-based food, such as scrambled eggs or omelets with sheep’s cheese or salmon. They keep you full and provide the body with the macronutrients that were lacking on the broth and juice days.
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However, one calorie-reduced day a week should not result in significant weight loss.