binge britain: diet doctors
specials (5/6)

Over 60 per cent of people in the UK are either overweight or obese, with many of us binge-eating ourselves into early graves. In this series, six superfit athletes have volunteered to become human lab rats for two weeks in order to illustrate what effect the nation’s favourite food is having on our bodies. This episode sees boxer Cathy Brown take on a diet with a difference: fast food, three times a day for a fortnight.

European flyweight boxing champion Cathy Brown trains six days a week; running, weightlifting and sparring to keep her prize-fighting physique at the peak of fitness. She says that her life revolves around her training sessions, and her friend Natalie agrees, describing Cathy as “dedicated” and “obsessive”. As well as sticking to an intense exercise regime, Cathy makes sure that she gives her body the right fuel. Her fridge is full of chicken, fish, fruit and vegetables, skimmed milk and supplements – but that is all about to change.

Usually, Binge Britain’s participants are asked to add an unhealthy food type to their daily diet, but Cathy has had a very special diet devised for her. She opens the mystery box to find it crammed with burgers, kebabs, chips, pizza and fried chicken – and is horrified to learn that she must eat fast food for every meal instead of her normal diet. Cathy must also restrict her exercise to the national daily average of 5,000 steps, well below her usual total. “I don’t know what to say,” she gasps.

Cathy is right to be apprehensive: over the course of the fortnight she is likely to consume 960g of fat; 2,058g carbohyrdates; 175g of fibre and a whopping 35,300 calories. The UK is the biggest consumer of fast food in Europe, spending over £2.7 billion on it a year – and it is easy to overdo it on this high-calorie, high-fat and energydense food.

With no time to lose Cathy clears her fridge of its healthy contents to make way for some takeaways. On her first day, she cheerfully puts away two burgers, two portions of chips and a fry-up – but quickly notices the negative effects. “It seemed like quite good fun earlier,” she moans. Her stomach is swollen – caused by her body producing higher levels of gas as it tries to digest the excess fat – and she is feeling nauseous. “Great,” she says. “Really looking forward to the next 13 days. Hurrah.”

On day two, which Cathy started with a burger breakfast, another unwelcome side-effect is manifesting itself in the form of a huge spot on Cathy’s usually clear face. She is also having trouble restricting her exercise to the prescribed 5,000 steps a day – partly due to the nature of her work as a personal trainer – and, as a person who walks everywhere, finds it difficult to adjust to using public transport to travel the shortest of distances.

By day eight, Cathy has consumed the equivalent of 16,364 calories and eating all that fat is starting to take its toll. As well as having a constantly distended stomach, she is also feeling run-down and experiencing digestive problems, flatulence and pain in her lower back. She spends most of the following day in bed throwing up –and by the time the final day arrives, she is feeling unmotivated and lazy.

How will the fat and calorie-packed diet, combined with a drastic reduction in exercise, have affected Cathy’s super-fit body?