THE 2 DAY DIET

The key to losing weight and staying slim may be dieting—for only two days a week. A growing body of research suggests that “5-2” diets—which involve eating normally for five days and restricting your intake for two days to between 500 and 1,000 calories—are effective both in keeping weight off and in improving overall health. In a study on rats, researchers at the National Institute on Aging say the periodic fasting appears to improve the blood sugar levels of the rodents and help keep them lean,NPR.org reports. It even appears to boost their cognitive skills. And a study of 100 overweight women in England found that those who followed a 5-2 diet—eating healthy Mediterranean-style meals for five days and low-calorie, high-protein meals without carbohydrates for two days—lost more weight than women who tried to cut calories all week. The big advantage of two-day diets, researchers say, is that they seem to train people to eat less overall without making them feel deprived.