5:2 intermittent fasting
Normal eating five days a week with two non-consecutive restricted days of roughly 500–600 kcal.
Food & fasting
Research records
Historical source snapshot. Not freshly verified, not a recommendation. Study findings, community accounts and app defaults are not interchangeable.
Publication suitability · 2026-10-15: Historical reference only; not a clinical verification. Clinical, regulatory, efficacy, safety and dose claims are not independently established by this review.
5:2 intermittent fasting
Normal eating five days a week with two non-consecutive restricted days of roughly 500–600 kcal.
Evidence category: Systematic review. This describes the source category, not approval or certainty.
Regulatory statement in source: Not separately recorded; do not infer approval from the evidence category.
The 5:2 pattern mixes normal eating days with strongly reduced-intake days. A randomised controlled trial in 60 adults with fatty liver disease compared it with daily calorie restriction and reported improvements in liver measures. A systematic review and meta-analysis of intermittent fasting in people with impaired glucose and lipid metabolism found small reductions in fasting glucose, HbA1c, insulin, insulin resistance, BMI and weight. Neither source reports long-term outcomes. The evidence is meta-analytic but built on short studies.
Benefits reported in the imported source
- A randomised trial in fatty liver disease found less steatosis and fibrosis than daily calorie restriction.
- Pooled trials found small falls in fasting glucose, HbA1c, insulin resistance, weight and cholesterol.
Risks and limits
- The metabolic changes were small, and weight loss matched daily calorie restriction.
- Neither source reports long-term outcomes; the pooled studies were short.
Source bottom line: The 5:2 pattern produced small metabolic gains and better liver measures, but only in short studies.
Uncertainty: Reference information only. Not medical advice.
Study protocols — reports, not instructions
54 adults with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease who completed the trial, 27 per arm
- Reported regimen
- 5:2 fasting: 600 kcal/day for women and 800 kcal/day for men on two days, customary eating on five, versus daily calorie restriction
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Reported outcome
- Hepatic steatosis (29.6% vs 59.3%) and fibrosis (3.7% vs 25.9%) were less frequent than with daily restriction; weight loss was similar in both arms.
- Source
- Effect of 5:2 intermittent fasting diet versus daily calorie restriction eating on metabolic-associated fatty liver disease—a randomized controlled trial
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:food-protocol:5-2/protocols/0
about 276 people with impaired glucose and lipid metabolism across 10 randomised trials
- Reported regimen
- trials used alternate-day fasting, modified fasting under 25% of needs, 500-600 kcal fasting days, time-restricted feeding and Ramadan fasting
- Duration
- 5 weeks to 12 months
- Reported outcome
- Pooled fasting glucose fell 0.15 mmol/L, HbA1c 0.08%, HOMA-IR 0.31, weight 1.87 kg and total cholesterol 0.32 mmol/L.
- Source
- Effect of Intermittent Fasting Diet on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism and Insulin Resistance in Patients with Impaired Glucose and Lipid Metabolism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:food-protocol:5-2/protocols/1
Community and practice descriptions
Accounts of a practice are not evidence of safety or effectiveness. Words such as “standard”, “safe” or “recommended” describe the source account, not verified consensus or this wiki’s advice. Commercial and self-published citations are retained for traceability, not vendor endorsement or independent clinical corroboration.
Unverified imported account — Pros and Cons of Intermittent Fasting - Healthline
An imported authored paraphrase, not a quotation or a recommended protocol.
Review: unverified historical account. The imported wording is preserved for attribution; its full clinical, dosing, efficacy or consensus claims have not been independently established. Described practice context only; no clinical benefit or safety outcome is inferred.
Imported wording: A nutrition guide describes the 5:2 pattern as five usual eating days each week and two days limited to 500-600 kcal.
Historical research outcome: verified-description · 2026-10-06
Rechecked the previously published description against live source content. The live guide describes five usual eating days and two restricted days. The description identifies the named pattern, not a recommendation to adopt it.
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-ways-to-do-intermittent-fasting: verified-description — The live guide describes five usual eating days and two restricted days. The description identifies the named pattern, not a recommendation to adopt it.
Pharmacokinetic context
No half-life recorded in this source snapshot. No value has been inferred.
Source references
- Effect of 5:2 intermittent fasting diet versus daily calorie restriction eating on metabolic-associated fatty liver disease—a randomized controlled trial
- Effect of Intermittent Fasting Diet on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism and Insulin Resistance in Patients with Impaired Glucose and Lipid Metabolism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- PubMed: intermittent fasting 5:2
Snapshot provenance
Source ID: catalog:food-protocol:5-2. Commit: adc7684614f9439b41d91a3312b62e7982c7e20e. Review state: historical-not-reverified. Authored links are retained separately from the canonical evidence links in the public data. App templates/defaults and rejected drafts are archived, not deployed.
Related entries and components
None listed.