Is Starving Yourself Twice a Week a Bad Idea?

People are always looking to find a way to lose weight, and the most obvious way to drop the pounds is to starve yourself. However, starving yourself isn't necessarily the healthiest way to lose weight. In fact, self-starvation can actually kill you rather quickly.

That being said, a new fad diet called the 5:2 Diet is beginning to take hold. Its main principle is to fast two days per week as a way to help drop the pound. Though dieters are welcome to eat a normal caloric intake five days a week, two days per week, they have to stick to a maximum of 600 calories.

As of right now, dieters who use this trick include celebrities like Beyonce, Christie Turlington, Phillip Schofield, and Ben Affleck. Partly due to the celebrity following and partly because it seems so lenient, the 5:2 Diet has become the talk of gyms.

But, is it really doable? Is it worth it? Here's what doctors are saying about starving yourself for two days a week...

There's a genetic reason why it works.

Intermittent fasting has a way of activating our SIRT1 gene, which is colloquially called the "Skinny Gene" by scientists. This is the gene that comes into play when we need to repair our bodies from scarce food supplies. This gene tends to inhibit fat storage, which in turn means that we tend to burn fat when we have this gene activated.

Starving yourself two or even three days a week is enough to actually activate the SIRT1 gene. Additionally, this eating form also allows us to activate another gene which has anti-aging abilities.

Biologically speaking, yes, it does work. Moreover, regularly fasting like this while you eat a normal level also may make you more likely to notice portion control and could even shrink your stomach. So, there's that to think about as well.

Some of the perks are obvious.

Only having to diet for two days a week is way easier than sticking to a diet plan 24/7. As a result, this is a great way for people who don't have much self control to diet without going a bit crazy. It's a lot less pressure, which in turn makes it a lot easier to deal with.

Moreover, it also allows you to indulge with ease while still maintaining a calorie deficit throughout the week. For people who have active social lives, this is a huge deal that can make it way easier to enjoy a nice meal once in a while with friends.

But, take heed, there's a problem with this.

Starving yourself for two days a week still isn't easy, even if you know it's going to be over tomorrow. You will feel lethargic, cranky, and irritable throughout the day in many cases. You also may have a hard time sticking to the plan, if only because 500 calories is very little food. (Thankfully, that's a lot of celery to eat!)

The biggest issue that people have with the 5:2 Diet is that starving yourself for two days can end up making you feel like it's okay to eat as much as possible on the other five days. A lot of dieters end up gorging on food, and that tends to ruin the diet's efficacy.

A way to overcome the crankiness and potential negative effects can be found via the Low GI Diet.

The problem that makes people cranky on this diet is the sugar crashes that often come alongside fasting. The easiest way to avoid this is to reduce your glycemic index, which in turn means that you become less dependent on sugar.

The Low GI Diet focuses on dropping your sugar intake, which in turn makes you get fuller, faster. Interestingly enough, the same genes that tend to get lit up by intermittent fasting also get lit by a Low GI Diet.

Either way, it seems like the best way to get slim is to light up those two genes. How you choose to do that, though, is all up to you.