The Checkup: Gorge for 5 Days, Fast for 2, Say The Fast Diet Authors

• The Brits are going positively nuts over a new diet craze, reports the New York Times. It’s called the Fast Diet, and its book by the same name has been a seriously hot seller in England since its January debut. The basic outline is this: eat whatever you want for five days, fast for two and—presto change-o!—lose weight. Actually, there’s no magic involved here, according to the Fast Diet creator and author physician Michael Mosely (who is described by the Times as Britain’s own Sanjay Gupta). The idea is that by going hungry two days a week, your body begins to blow through its fat stores, which, of course, means you’ll lose weight. And “fast” here doesn’t mean eating nothing; the diet’s guidelines allow 500 calories for women and 600 for men on fasting days, which means you could feasibly eat two light meals (say, breakfast and dinner) and simply skip lunch and count it as a fast day. Mosely says his diet is backed up by scientific research and his own experience losing 20 pounds in nine weeks (though, I should point out, some critics are crying foul). The book was just released in the States last week. Read about it here.

• Did you catch the amazing story about the Mississippi toddler who was born with AIDS but now appears to be cured? No? Check it out here.

• Here’s one for your recipe box: The Kitchn rounds up 15 whole-grain breakfast ideas, and these suckers looks pretty darn delicious. Find it here. (If you’re more of a breakfast-on-the-run type, we’ve got you covered here.)