“

We published two studies with Dr. Michelle Harvie at the University of Manchester ; each included 100 overweight women, and the design of both studies was the same, we divided them into two groups ; one group got the 5:2 diet ; the other group had three meals per day but we reduced the amount of calories by 20 % to 25 % below what they normally eat -- so that the weekly calorie intake of both groups would be the same.