Celebrities have been popularizing all sorts of crazy diet trends over the years. One of his recent trends among celebrities is the “one meal a day” diet (or “OMAD”).
OMAD’s fans include Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Many proponents of OMAD claim that it helps people manage their weight and stay healthy.
OMAD is essentially a more extreme version of other types of fasting diets, such as intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating.
The main difference is that people who practice OMAD consume all of the day’s calories in one large meal, rather than fasting only on certain days or eating only at certain times. That’s it.
However, while OMAD proponents claim that continuing the diet will improve symptoms, many aspects of healthin fact, little is known about what eating just one meal a day does to the body, let alone whether it’s safe.
fasting and health
There is limited evidence supporting the use of OMAD. Few studies have actually looked at OMAD itself, and most have been done in animals.
Therefore, most claims that OMAD works are anecdotal. Alternatively, it is based on the assumption that if other forms of fasting benefit health, then OMAD will also benefit health.
Research on fasting diets is still progressing. A form of intermittent fasting known as the “5:2 diet” (eating normally five days a week and eating less than 800 calories two days a week) may help people. There is some evidence that this is the case. Manage your weight better. However, it is not superior to other diet methods.
Research has also shown that time-restricted eating (eating all of the day’s calories within a certain amount of time) can help improve weight management.and there’s more to it health benefits such as lowering blood pressure.
One review study also found that different types of fasting (such as intermittent fasting and alternate-day fasting) can improve symptoms. some aspects of metabolism.
These include improving blood sugar and cholesterol levels, reducing inflammation levels, and improving symptoms in people. regulate appetite. This may help reduce your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
just one meal
a study So far, we have investigated the effects of OMAD in humans. In this study, participants were given the same amount of calories each day for the duration of the study.
In half of the studies, participants ate these calories in one meal, then switched to spread their daily calories over three meals a day.
Each eating pattern only ran for 11 days, which wasn’t that long. One meal was taken between 5pm and 7pm. Only 11 participants completed the study.
Significant reductions in body weight and fat mass were seen when participants ate just one meal a day. However, participants lost more lean body mass and bone density when they ate just one meal a day.
If this diet continues for a long time, it can reduce muscle function and increase the risk of bone fractures.
Animal studies examining the effects of OMAD have shown conflicting results, with some studies showing mice eating it. One large meal a day actually I gained more weight compared to those who had multiple meals.
These results may indicate that OMAD has benefits in some aspects of health, but there is still much we don’t know about it.
It will be important for future studies to investigate the effects of OMAD in a larger number of participants and other groups of people (as this study only included lean young adults).
It is also important for research to observe the effects of OMAD over long periods of time and to conduct these trials in real-world settings.
It would also be interesting to know whether the timing of meals further improves the results and whether the nutritional profile of the diet makes a difference.
Other disadvantages
If someone only eats one meal a day, it can be very difficult to meet all of their nutritional requirements, especially for energy, protein, fiber, and key vitamins and minerals.
If you don’t get enough of these important nutrients, lead to loss of muscle massthe risk of constipation and poor gut health.
Those who follow Omad should ensure that they consume protein and sufficient amounts of vegetables, nuts, seeds, some fruits and whole grains in one meal each day to meet these nutritional requirements.
You will also need enough dairy products, or supplements or alternatives if plant-based, to ensure you meet your calcium and iodine needs.
This diet is not recommended for children, those who are pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, and is definitely not recommended for anyone at risk for an eating disorder.
It’s also important to note that while this diet may work for celebrities, they also have access to nutritionists, high-quality meals, and supplements if needed.
For most of us, this type of diet is unsustainable and can be potentially harmful in the long term.
Amanda Averynutrition lecturer, University of Nottingham
This article is republished from conversation Under Creative Commons License.read Original work.
A previous version of this article was published in April 2023.
