I Lost 8lb on the new 5 Day Diet

Sugarloaf mountain

You might think this is a bold claim but, on my 5 Day Diet Retreat last month with 18 people – energy scores almost doubled, brain fog lifted, pains and aches reduced by 50%. Between the 18 people, they lost 37.5kg (6 stone 5lbs).

That equates to an average of 5lbs per person – but bear in mind some were not doing it to lose weight, and the more you have to lose the faster it comes off. The greatest loser, was Niteen, a diabetic, who lost almost 10lbs. The next best was Lucy, age 24, who lost 9 pounds.

These people were at my 5 Day Diet Retreat in the Black Mountains of Wales (next one in May – booking now) and had my support and encouragement. I did it as well and lost 8lbs.

But many people who have followed the instructions in The 5 Day Diet book have also reported great results. Andrea R went from 9 stone 6lbs to 8 stone 13.5lbs. “I never thought I’d see that ‘8’ number on my scales again! I lost 4 inches from under my bust and my trousers are falling off. Mentally I feel I have conquered a mountain and anything is possible.” Janet R reports: “Phenomenal results – day six today and I have lost 9 pounds and 2 inches off my waist. I feel sooo much better! I would encourage anyone to do the 5 day diet – it truly is transforming.” Janet E.

Results keep pouring in. “Completed the 5 day diet yesterday. 6lbs lost so far!” says Sandra P. “I completed the 5 day diet last week and shed 4.5lbs.” says Mandy L

“I feel refreshed and the mental clarity I have is fabulous! Can’t give weight loss as my scales are rubbish but I have definitely lost significant weight off my waistline and stomach area (which is brilliant as I’m menopausal!).”

Is it hard to follow? “I haven’t been hungry at all. In fact I wasn’t even able to finish lunches and dinners a couple of times in the last two days. The soups were my favourites and I will definitely have them again.” says Andreea E. “The primordial soup is amazing! The colour is divine” says Nicola Z. “The sardine pate is awesome.”

What is the Five Day Diet and why are the results so spectacular? The Five Day Diet is what’s called a ‘fasting mimicking diet’, abbreviated to FMD. The reason it’s called ‘fasting mimicking’ is that, in a total five day fast you can trigger a cellular repair process called ‘autophagy’ that makes new energy factories called mitochondria in your cells, stimulates the production of stem cells, reverses some autoimmune diseases, gobbles up cancer cells, viruses and harmful bacteria. In short, it anti-ages you and resets your metabolism to fat-burning mode.

While the 5:2 diet and 18:6 (that’s 18 hour carb fast having dinner at eg 6pm and nothing till lunch at noon) are good they won’t trigger autophagy. It takes, on average:

  • 12 hours to enter register ketones in the blood (ketosis)
  • 18 hours to become ketogenic and start fat-burning
  • 24 hours (day 2) to kickstart autophagy, recycling old proteins
  • 54 hours (day 3) for insulin levels to hit their lowest, increasing sensitivity thus reversing insulin resistance and resetting your blood sugar control and cravings
  • 72 hours (day 4-5) – IGF-1 drops, generating new immune cells and stem cells

During the 5 Day Diet Retreats, which are seven days long because you transition into the ‘maintenance’ low GL diet and we show you how, we measure your glucose, which falls over the five days. You want to get your glucose under 5 mmol/l, possibly around 4mmol/l. We have a number of diabetics and pre-diabetics so our ‘average’ blood sugar is higher since many have blood sugars above 8 until the 5 Day Diet magic kicks in.

Ketone levels continually rise. You want to get blood levels above 2 and ideally in the 3-4 range for maximum fat burning. On breath tests you can pretty much multiply by 15. For example, a blood level of 3 is roughly equal to a breath level of 45 on the KetoScanMini. Breath ketone levels are a bit more variable and depend a bit on how you exhale. Anything above 20 really means you’ve gone ketogenic, burning fat and turning it into ketones as your main fuel as opposed to running on glucose and storing excess as fat.

A word of caution: having both high glucose and high ketones is dangerous. This is called ketoacidosis and basically happens in diabetics, especially type-1 diabetics, when they have no insulin or extreme insulin resistance, meaning the glucose in their blood doesn’t make it into the cells. Consequently, the cells are starving of fuel and the body makes ketones. Too much makes the blood too acidic.

As long as your glucose is reducing having a high ketone level is not dangerous but the measuring device doesn’t know this. So, they are all set to display a ‘warning’ message when your ketone level is high. This is a good sign when you’re doing the 5 Day Diet.

The Maximum Fat Burning Zone

You enter the maximum fat-burning zone when you have at least half as much ketones as glucose. For example, if your glucose level is 5 and your blood ketone level is 2.5 that is a Glucose/Ketone Index (or GKI) of 2. If your glucose was 4 and your ketones were 2 that would also be a GKI of 2. If your glucose was 4 and your ketone level was 4 that is a GKI of 1. A GKI between 1 and 2 puts you in the maximum fat-burning zone. You can see the group’s results below in our last 5 Day Diet Retreat.

Retreat Results

This is also the zone in which you make more stem cells, rebuild healthy mitochondria – your energy factories. You experience this as a boost in energy usually on day four and five but even more so in the week after the 5 Day Diet when you transition back to a slow carb of low GL diet.

Please note that exercise, which we were doing, will raise your blood glucose level simply because your muscles demand glucose so your body can reverse engineer your fat into glucose, as well as ketones. This is not bad because you are burning it off.

Reversing auto-immune disease

In animal studies, if you do the 5 Day Diet four times with two weeks in between, or once a month for four months, this has reversed type-1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease with new stem cells insulin producing cells for the diabetics and repairing the gut damage in irritable bowel diseases such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

You can do all this yourself from the 5 Day Diet book or come on one of my 5 Day Diet retreats. Holfordirect.com have a package of all the supplements needed – they are an important part of the success of this diet. Ketofast is C8 oil that you have in the Hybrid Latté. HCA, vitamin C and carnitine, as well as chromium in GL Support and get Up & Go shake all help support autophagy and stabilise your blood sugar.

The 5 Day Diet Retreat also includes personal coaching, meditations, massages, Epsom salt baths and a hot tub and steam shower, specific exercise and delicious food. I will do it with you – I lost 8lbs. Whether you’re male, female old or young (youngest has been 24 and oldest 80), in a couple (bring your partner) or single you are most welcome.

Here’s a few comments and films from people from last month’s 5 Day Diet Retreat.

“Patrick is a phenomenal teacher and health guru. I arrived confused and not knowing where to start on my weight loss journey and reverse diabetes. After the retreat I knew exactly what to do. The retreat was practical and experimental so was perfect for me in showing me how to bring it into my life. I fully recommend anyone who wants to transform their health to join Patrick on one of his retreats. You will be transformed!”

Niteen L lost 10lbs and stabilised his blood sugar levels. He stayed in the Owl Nest room in the house.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the week and learnt a lot of very practical and important health information. The beautiful surroundings enhanced the experience and I am leaving with a clear idea of food choices and lifestyle changes. One of the most powerful retreats I have been on. Thoroughly recommended.” Olivia M was in the Shepdherd Hut

“This retreat was perfectly timed for me at a low point in my life. I was overweight, I suspect pre-diabetic and miserable. I could not think straight and was not sleeping well. I enjoyed every minute and leave feeling lighter, clearer and positive aboutr carrying on. Patrick delivers entertaining and educating lectures and is on hand to inform and support. Marcelle is knowledgable and a brilliant teacher. Jo prepared and served beautiful, delicious and nutritious food.” Juliet B, a business consultant who stayed in the Ecopod with her daughter.

“What an amazing week! I literally cannot tell you how much I learnt and I feel totally re-vitalised and content. I had no idea you would give so much of your time to be with us all the time! Thank you, thank you.” Lizzie B stayed in the Pigstyle room with her sister.

“Very informative week. Great to take some time out from the family. Learned a great deal in a targeted way. The venue on the farm in the Black Mountains of South wales are of outrstanding beauty and helped me to relax and enjoy nature. I received professional advice and support to help me lose weight (that wasn’t shifting) and give me a plan with support to help me loose weight and give me a plan with support to move forward. I had a fun time and have made new friends. Thanks to the whole team for making this possible.” Joan L, a retired nurse stayed in the Celtic Dragon Gypsy Caravan.

PS The weight loss results shown during the retreat are after six days, not five, with the sixth day reloading carbs so your ‘glycogen’ stores return. This is a short-term glucose supply in muscles and the liver which stores glucose with four times as much water. You can ‘cheat’ by measuring weight loss when you’re eating a high fat keto diet because your body loses weight as water when you burn off glycogen. By measuring on Day six we avoid this cheat such that the measurements are mainly fat loss not water loss. Also, the exercises we do preserve your muscle mass. This is one of the downsides of water fasts.

RESERVE YOUR PLACE

To reserve your place on the next 5 Day Diet retreat in the glorious Black Mountains of Wales either email your details including your phone number to events@patrickholford.com or call ‭07944 689108‬ giving your phone number and  email so we can talk through the different accommodation options and answer your questions and concerns. Retreats are limited to 18 people. ‬

See what attendees had to say in these video testimonials:

Joan L testimonial

Juliet B testimonial

Lizzie X testimonial

Niteen L testimonial

Olivia M testimonial

RETREAT BOOKINGS

For more details on the retreat visit: www.patrickholford.com/events
For more details on the venue visit: www.holfordnaturalholidays.com

MORE ABOUT THE 5 DAY DIET

The 5 Day Diet pages of my website explain more about the diet and you can order the book direct from HOLFORDirect.