As we’re on the subject of fruit, it is much better to eat the whole fruit rather than having a juice or smoothie for the following reasons:
When making fruit smoothies, the blender blades destroy the insoluble fibre in fruit.
And fruit juices have neither soluble nor insoluble fibre – the physiological effect of drinking fruit juice is similar to having any sweet drink – your body gets a rapid rush of sugar without fibre (the fibre in whole fruit normally slows down the absorption of sugar so you don’t get that same ‘hit’ which is one of the main problems with all concentrated forms of sugar in food or drinks).
More to follow on the perils of juices in the ‘fructose’ post.
Sorry to be a killjoy about fruit juices and smoothies…

2 meals a day seems to be generally a good idea – I presume you had a look at the post about it?
Good luck with the 5:2 diet!

Question: So, is fresh fruit juice construed as a Meal or beverage?
I make my own blend of fruits for juices, which is quite filling.

Most of the scientific research on fasting involves abstaining from all calories for a minimum of 18 hours, so you are allowed to drink water; black coffee and tea have so few calories that they don’t affect the physiological benefits of fasting.

What you consume when you break your fast seems to be irrelevant; the real benefits of fasting are obtained during the period of abstinence, so yes, wine is allowed when you break your fast.

My brand of fasting and most of the experiments on fasting don’t involve calorie counting – I personally just eat until I feel full when I break my fast, and I try not to over-compensate by gorging on non-fasting days.

As far as exercise is concerned, most of the research has been done on people during Ramadan. For non-competitive sports Ramadan style fasting doesn’t seem to make a significant difference to performance, but there haven’t been any studies on professional athletes and fasting to date.

A few studies on rats and fasting show that occasional mild stresses such as fasting can prevent or reverse ageing (‘hormetic changes’ is the scientific term).

Some people find lethargy and feeling cold big downsides to fasting. I certainly wouldn’t recommend marathon training and fasting at the same time.

It’s entirely a personal choice how often you fast. Doing it regularly but then occasionally lapsing whilst on holiday is definitely better than not fasting at all.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with fasting.

Three different people told me about the 5:2 diet today (maybe they are trying to hint at something). I’m thinking of trying it from next week and if it works for me I’ll stick to it.

Just a few questions…

Don’t laugh at the first one, but can you drink (one glass of) wine on a fasting day with your meal?

Secondly, how does fasting impact exercise? I presume most people feel a bit more tired and lethargic than usual on fasting days.

Finally, what happens when you go on holiday? Can you juggle fasting days round or does that impact the health benefits?