As a leading nutrition and longevity expert, I often see patients who want my advice on whether they should start taking weight-loss jabs. My answer is look for a more natural option.
These appetite-suppressing injections – which include Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro – have been revolutionary.
But they cost £200 a month and patients have to stay on them forever, or risk putting all the weight back on.
Instead, I have a simple, cheap fix that can help patients shed the pounds in weeks – and keep it off for good.
Last week, investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre revealed in The Mail that he had lost three stone in three weeks by following my diet plan.
Some readers were sceptical of the dramatic turnaround, with more than a few commenters suggesting that he was just ‘sucking in his stomach’ in the astonishing before and after pictures.
I will say that Donal’s weight loss was remarkable. But the plan I set him was not out of the ordinary – and I have many other patients who have achieved similar responses.
So what’s my secret? It’s simple: For three weeks you fast, consuming nothing but water and vitamins.
Journalist Donal MacIntyre lost a total of 2st 13lbs during his 23-day fast
It’s an approach that might sound radical – even dangerous. After all, don’t we need regular meals to survive? However, it’s exactly what your body was designed to do.
Back in our distant caveman past, humans would often go days without food. As a result our bodies are designed to store energy for these periods of scarcity. You might know these energy stores by another name: fat.
Today, with food in abundance, this ability to store energy has become a curse, leading to rising obesity rates in the Western world.
One proposed solution to this crisis is intermittent fasting. This is where people eat only between a limited set of hours in the day, in the hope that their body will begin burning off fat during the period where they are not eating.
While it has its benefits, I believe that for patients with severe weight issues intermittent fasting is not enough. Your body needs a much more intensive reset.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that it is only after several days of fasting that the body really begins to start burning fat.
The second is that a long fast has the added benefit of ridding the body of toxins. These naturally occurring poisons are often triggered by obesity. When too much sugar, fat and protein are stored in the body, this can inflame the cells, which secrete these toxins.
Research suggests that, over time, these can raise the risk of deadly diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. And it’s only once the body has burned through its energy stores that it removes these toxins – hence the need for a long fast.
Dr Ash Kapoor at his pre-fast assessment with Donal MacIntyre…
… as a nurse takes a blood sample
And while patients like Donal take the more extreme approach and fast for three weeks, many people see noticeable results after just a week.
So, here’s what you need to do – and buy – before you begin one of these fasts.
The first step is always to consult a doctor who will be able to assess your body fat percentage to then work out how long would be best for you, and ultimately what is safe.
We do not recommend that patients with the blood sugar condition diabetes who require medical treatment – such as doses of sugar-lowering insulin – follow this method or people with a history of eating disorders. It is also not recommended for pregnant women.
Timing can also be key as women should time their fast so that it does not coincide with their period. This is because during this time, the body naturally holds onto sugar, so the fast will not be effective.
For a week before the fast begins, we recommend that patients take a combination of vitamin B, D and iron supplements, to set the body up for the process.
During the first four days of the fast, we then suggest that people switch to taking Celtic salts, a natural mineral which will boost your calcium and magnesium levels and help you battle through that initial fatigue.
After that, they should then return to the same combination of vitamins they took before to replace the crucial nutrients normally gained from eating substantial meals.
Patients who follow this method benefit almost immediately.
The first couple of days will be a challenge. Your body will be burning through your sugar stores so you will feel fatigued and inevitably you experience hunger pains.
However, by day three you will begin to see the benefits. You will first begin to feel calmer, then by day four you will feel more alert and then by week two you will be sleeping better.
After that you will continue to lose weight, but also you will have removed harmful toxins from your body that cause long-term health problems.
Following the fast you need to ease back into eating full meals. In Donal’s case, he started with bone broth and then liquid meals before shifting to a low-carb diet for two weeks.
This is because the stomach is sensitive after a long period without food.
After that we recommend that you eat two high-protein meals a day.
There is one thing other thing we recommend that really surprises people. I always say that, over the course of a week, patients can eat four pleasure meals. This could be a takeaway pizza, a burger, or whatever your heart desires.
Life is about balance and, while it would be optimal to never indulge, by allowing the body to satisfy its occasional craving, patients are more likely to stick with the plan for longer.
This method is so effective because it is a hardware-reset for your body.
Once you have done it you will not need to do it again, provided you keep eating well. It should also ‘rewire’ the brain, so patients will not have to same level of cravings as they did before the fast.
This is something that weight-loss jabs can never do.
The level of food awareness, clarity of thought, vitality and energy gained is profound within weeks.
This is something that weight-loss jabs will struggle to achieve – nature over nurture is where our body thrives most.
- Dr Ash Kapoor is the author of Autophagy: Release Our Internal Larders
