6:1 Diet: What is this Newest Eating Fad?

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There's a new eating fad called the 6:1 Diet and Coldplay's Chris Martin recently admitted he's been doing it.

The singer said during a radio interview that doing the 6:1 Diet helped maintain his weight and also boosted his work. "Creativity is one of the benefits of it. I started doing it because I was sick one time, and this guy said to me, 'Try not eating for a day, it will make your body feel healthier,'" he said.

Telegraph reported that Martin described being able to sing better as a result of his new eating habit but he also said that he struggles with it on some days. "I tend to have Nutella and pancakes, which is terrible and completely defeats the point."

Daily Mail shared the way the diet is done is to eat for six days and then completely do fasting for one day in a week. Sir Stanley Matthews developed the diet 50 years ago.

Matthews was an English football player and fitness expert who was known for his notorious diet plan. "Every Monday he would go without any food at all because he said fasting one day a week made him feel so much better," said his daughter Jean via The Stoke Sentinel.

The football star maintained an active life until his death in 2000 at 85-years old. However, his daughter also revealed that he stuck with eating the same type of meals everyday - carrot juice for lunch, then steak and salad for dinner. Matthews believed it was what gave him the stamina to play football for 33 years.

However, health experts have some concerns about the 6:1 Diet, classifying this along with other fasting diet fads that have emerged this year. The Journal Times also shared that there's also a similar diet called the 5/2 Diet, where a person eats for five days and then does fasting for two days in the week.

British Dietetic Association spokesperson Chloe Miles told Daily Mail that these types of diets are dangerous. "It is likely to lead to a lack of concentration, tiredness and low mood, which isn't going to make you that productive," she said. Miles also stressed that there is no scientific proof the 6:1 Diet helps with creativity contrary to Martin's claim.

"Chris Martin is likely to be craving something high in fat and sugar because his body will have been deprived of nutrients for 24 hours," Miles added. "If he had just eaten healthily throughout the day he is unlikely to have craved Nutella and pancakes."