Safety Concerns. For most people, there are no serious dangers involved in eating one meal a day, other than the discomforts of feeling hungry. That said, there are some risks for people with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Eating one meal a day can increase your blood pressure and cholesterol.
While it seems perfectly fine to eat two meals a day, such a routine is not suitable for everyone. There are a few groups of people who are advised not to try such a diet plan. It is because such a meal plan may increase their risk of health problems.
“On a day you don't eat for 24 hours, you're guaranteed to be losing a third or half a pound of non-water weight that's mostly from body fat,” Pilon told Global News.
For the majority of human history, people ate one or two meals per day. The current time-restricted eating patterns like the 16:8 or one meal a day diet (OMAD) mimic this ancient phenomenon. During periods without food, the body evolved to tap into fat stores for energy.
After two or three days without food, your body starts to break down fatty tissue. Your muscles use the fatty acids created during this process as their main source of fuel. Fatty acids are also used to form ketones in the liver. Ketones are another substance the body can use for energy.
"The Romans believed it was healthier to eat only one meal a day," food historian Caroline Yeldham told BBC News Magazine in 2012. "They were obsessed with digestion and eating more than one meal was considered a form of gluttony. This thinking impacted on the way people ate for a very long time."
While many folks still plan their days around “three square meals,” it turns out the number of meals you eat may not be so important. How you eat those meals is what matters most when it comes to decreasing the risk of heart disease and other health problems that come along with being overweight.
In ancient times, people usually ate one daily meal that was considered unique and abundant to any other time for eating. For example, the ancient Romans consumed only one meal around midday, considering it a healthy choice and the only one able to guarantee good digestion.
Eating one meal a day can increase your blood pressure and cholesterol. This occurred in a group of healthy adults who switched to one meal a day to participate in a study. If you already have concerns in either area, eating just once a day might not be safe. Eating one meal late can cause your blood sugar to spike.
The Theory: Nutrition experts tend to recommend eating 3 balanced meals (350 to 600 calories each) and 1 to 3 snacks per day (between 150 and 200 calories each). The calories for each meal and snack depend on a variety of factors including, height, weight, age, gender and activity level.
Eating 2 meals in a day can improve metabolic flexibility. This means you can shift between using different fuel sources available with ease. You become less dependent on carbohydrates in food for energy. Instead, you can shift into using stored energy like body fat.
In one sense, it all comes down to math: The average adult human requires 2,000 calories per day, and you're only awake for so many hours. "Across all peer-reviewed research and health practices, three meals a day is a general recommendation to encourage consistent, adequate energy intake," Miluk said.
To begin with, skipping dinner could lead to nutritional deficiency in your body, since you need micronutrients like magnesium, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3 for daily functioning. And if you continue this practice for long, you put yourself at the risk of becoming malnourished or developing nutritional deficiencies.
You could wait until you feel hungry to eat, but that might mean hours or even a whole day before you eat something, and you would not get adequate calories, protein, and other nutrients from the food your body needs. Food isn't strictly fuel. There's no doubt food is enjoyable.
Our ancestors in the palaeolithic period, which covers 2.5 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, are thought to have had a diet based on vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat. Cereals, potatoes, bread and milk did not feature at all.
Before that climate shift, our distant human ancestors—collectively known as hominins—were subsisting mostly on fruits, leaves, seeds, flowers, bark and tubers. As the temperature rose, the lush forests shrank and great grasslands thrived.
Not eating means your body doesn't get the sugars it needs to operate properly. This leads to a process called gluconeogenesis, which also causes the loss of appetite. Gluconeogenesis is your body's way of telling itself that blood glucose levels are too low.
Therefore, even if don't feed your tummy it won't just shrink down. In fact, the repercussions of hunger might result in drastic weight gain. Your metabolism will eventually become slower which in turn will make future weight loss difficult.
Some markers include reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and surprisingly an increase of energy and clarity of thinking. One theory is that hunger initiates a constant stress level that makes us stronger and more resistant to aging.