Intermittent fasting. Presented by Dr Michelle Harvie, PhD, Research Dietitian, UK
Dr Michelle Harvie is a research dietitian from the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester. Her research and passion involve the investigation of optimal diet and exercise strategies to prevent breast cancer and its recurrence.
Harvie’s group in Manchester conducted one of the first human studies into intermittent fasting (IF) in 2012.
Several years on, Michelle continues her research into IF. She recently published a review of the potential benefits and harms of intermittent energy restriction. For us, she has presented clearly the details about what is known regarding these very popular diets. To date in published research only 117 people have been studied using intermittent fasting diets. Incredibly, there are over 1000 diet books expounding the benefits of intermittent fasting.
The situation so far is that intermittent energy restriction, when compared to continuous energy restriction, has equal results with regards to weight loss, hepatic fat, insulin sensitivity and resting energy expenditure. We don’t know the long-term effects of IF. It does not appear to be a fad and it does seem that some people are managing to use IF to manage their weight.
About the presenter:
Dr Michelle Harvie is a research dietitian from the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester. She qualified as a dietitian in 1991. Her current research covers optimum diet and exercise strategies to prevent breast cancer and its recurrence. She has written more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and was awarded the British Dietetic Association Rose Simmonds Award 2005 for her paper on weight gain among breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. She received the National Association for the Study of Obesity National Best Practice Award in 2010 for her work on intermittent energy restricted diets. She is principal investigator for the B-AHEAD-2 trial and B-AHEAD 3 trials testing intermittent diets among early and advanced breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Dr Harvie has published three self-help guides to the intermittent diet: The 2 Day Diet (Ebury, Feb 2013); The 2 Day Diet Cookbook (Ebury, April 2013) and The 2 Day Diet: The Quick And Easy Edition (Ebury, Feb 2014). All author proceeds go to the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention charity.
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