MEMPHIS — For many people, there’s a constant, nagging inner monologue telling them to start a new diet or get back in the gym. However, some dieting and fitness plans may be doing more harm than good. Whether it’s intermittent fasting, cutting carbs, or going Keto, new research is advising caution for those who restrict their eating habits. Researchers at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center say that eating only one meal per day is associated with an increased risk of death in American adults 40 and older.
The findings contradict the many articles on intermittent fasting research previously published on StudyFinds which demonstrate the wide-ranging benefits of the practice. For example, just recently one report linked intermittent fasting to greater longevity. Another shows that it could potentially help prevent diabetes. Any changes to your diet should always be discussed with your doctor first.
According to the scientists behind this latest report, skipping meals can have harmful effects to your health. While you might enjoy dropping a few extra pounds, skipping breakfast is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. Similarly, missing lunch or dinner can lead to a higher risk of death in general.
The timing of your meals also plays role in health. For those who eat three meals daily, researchers say that meals should be spaced out by 4.5 hours of each other. Otherwise, you may be inching closer to death’s door.
“At a time when intermittent fasting is widely touted as a solution for weight loss, metabolic health, and disease prevention, our study is important for the large segment of American adults who eat fewer than three meals each day. Our research revealed that individuals eating only one meal a day are more likely to die than those who had more daily meals,” says lead study author Yangbo Sun, from the Department of Preventive Medicine at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, in a media release.
2 in 5 people follow a restricted diet plan
The investigators analyzed responses and causes of death from over 24,000 American adults 40 years-old and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2014. The survey collects data on everything from diet to general health across the U.S.
Researchers found that people who ate less than three meals a day (about 40% of the participants) shared common characteristics such as having less education, lower income, food insecurities, drinking more alcohol, smoking, and have less energy intake overall.
“Our results are significant even after adjustments for dietary and lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol use, physical activity levels, energy intake, and diet quality) and food insecurity,” adds the study’s senior investigator, Dr. Wei Bao, from the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.
Dr. Bao explains that skipping meals means obtaining more energy all at once, which can throw off your body’s ability to metabolize glucose. This can result in damage to your metabolism.
So, the next time you’re considering hopping on the newest diet trend, think twice. Limiting your body’s food (and fuel) intake can have serious long-term consequences and that is more important than fitting into the next size down in jeans. As mentioned, it’s best to talk with your doctor first to figure out the best dietary routine for your health.
The study is published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
So there is some risk in only eating one meal a day? The article fails to mention how much risk, which is important to individuals making decisions. Do 1 out of 10 die within a week from only eating one meal a day? Or is it 1 of a million die within 10 years? “Increased Risk” is too imprecise a term to be of much use.
For those eating one meal per day there was a 30% increase risk of death for all cause mortality and an 83% increase in risk in cardiovascular deaths compared to those eating 3 meals per day
“During 185,398 person-years of follow-up period, 4,175 deaths occurred, including 878 cardiovascular deaths. Most participants ate three meals per day. Compared with participants eating three meals per day, the multivariable-adjusted HRs for participants eating one meal per day were 1.30 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.64) for all-cause mortality, and 1.83 (95% CI 1.26 to 2.65) for CVD mortality. Participants who skipped breakfast have multivariable-adjusted HRs 1.40 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.78) for CVD mortality compared with those who did not. The multivariable-adjusted HRs for all-cause mortality were 1.12 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.24) for skipping lunch and 1.16 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.32) for skipping dinner compared with those who did not. Among participants eating three meals per day, the multivariable-adjusted HR for participants with an average interval of ≤4.5 hours in two adjacent meals was 1.17 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.32) for all-cause mortality, comparing with those having a meal interval of 4.6 to 5.5 hours.”
I clicked on the actual link to the study in the last line of the article. It says in the study in black and white that most participants in the study ate three meals a day, including the ones who died. They had many people in the study also who drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, had low access to quality food, etc. So this study has nothing to do with intermittent fasting as practiced by most. Health conscious intermittent fasters do not smoke, indulge alcohol or eat lots of junk food. Their meals are healthy and limited mostly to protein, vegetables and fruit.
This study lumps together those who skip meals in order to smoke, eat potato chips, candy, etc. and says these are “intermittent fasters”. Ridiculous. Probably funded by food industry.
So…eating 3 meals every 4.5 hours is suggested. If I start eating at 8:00 AM, that means I’ll be eating again at 12:30 PM and again at 5:00 PM. I will NOT be eating between 5:00 PM and 8:00 AM which is 15 hours. That by my understanding is intermittent fasting. So am I inching closer to death by doing what appears to have been suggested or am I reading the article wrong?
This is fear porn horseshit. Study was based on lifestyles of people, prior to 2014, that only ate 1-2 times a day based on maladaptive behaviors such as addictions, alcoholism etc. Not at all based on current healthy test subjects who are opting to eat less.
This article is Bull crap and goes against long-held science and new discoveries. Intermittent fasting clears up most every human diease. By evolutionary standards, anyone who eats 3 meals a day is a glutton. Read Dr. Jason Fung’s work as well Dr Joel Fuhrman and Dr. Steven Gundry.
Absolutely absurd. Calorie deprivation has consistently proven to increase the lifespan of every mammal animal model ever undertaken. In this study in particular they must have gone to the city dumpsters to find study participants that were smokers, boozers and druggies. I have two doctoral degrees one in medicine. I can assure you that those people that live the longest are thin, not fat and they don’t have destructive bad habits.
The idea of eating three meals a day originated with the English Aristocracy. Romans ate one meal a day at roughly noon. The Greeks introduced Breakfast. The concept of three meals a day is arbitrary and capricious nonsense. Eat when you are hungry. The idea of force-feeding three meals a day is human foie gras. Many people eat when there are bored.
The idea of fasting or more simply not eating for some period of time only gives the digestive tract a much-needed rest. The large cats go without eating for three days to five and more. Scientists are interested in the big Cats because it is difficult to tell an older cat from a younger one. Their fasting regime may be keeping the older Lions and Tigers in a quasi-non-ageing status. Intermittent fasting is not starvation. Participants can eat what they wish in one meal a day. They assert food choices WHICH WERE NOT PART OF THIS STUDY!
There may be some validity that a single larger meal should be consumed earlier in the day to match circadian rhythms. Intermittent fasting or simply one meal a day animal studies have shown a significant increase in life expectancy, not a decrease. To inject the notion that those that engage in intermittent fasting or one-meal-a-day consumption are poor is nonsense.
But I will give you this. Poor people do not generally live as long as the affluent. But I promise you this, the poor do not use intermittent fasting, or one meal a day consumption voluntarily in a program maximizing their nutrient intake. They generally have very poor diets and self-destructive habits and those variables lead to a reduced life expectancy.
Geez I went for 10 years working a physical job but eating one meal a day. Now at age 70 I eat two meals a day and have been doing it long before the term “intermittent fasting”. Seems like someone needed to come up with an article?
BTW – I am none of these –
“Researchers found that people who ate less than three meals a day (about 40% of the participants) shared common characteristics such as having less education, lower income, food insecurities, drinking more alcohol, smoking, and have less energy intake overall.”
There is no way I believe this.
This study is very poorly done. They used a survey data of people who can’t afford to eat 3 meals a day, are poorly educated, don’t exercise, smoke and drink and amazingly compared this to health conscious adults who use intermittent fasting.
This sounds so ridiculous. “Closer to death” if you don’t eat your meals 4.5hrs apart, lol. I do IF and anyone I know doing IF has higher energy and sleeps better than before. Most are highly educated and drink very little if at all. I guess we are the exception 😉
total BS
I AGREE!!!! wow…ive never heard such bull. Pay Nooo attention to this. Dumb.
Probably the biggest BS I’ve read in a very long time.
I agree this article is BS.. Fasting is one of the best things you can do for your digestive system. If you like a healthy stool a trimmer belly and still relatively eat what you want in the 8 hour window it is great. Its called Break Fast for a reason.. Fasting goes back to the bible. Don’t trust the real motivation behind this article.. Pharma perhaps..
How can we explain the studies in longevity that say food restriction is a key component to a longer lifespan?
….This article runs contrary to a whole lot of other research. Im ignoring it.
This probably comes from the same people who say Lucky Charms is healthier than steak
BS article.
Here is a cardiologist/practicing heart surgeon in Miami – a huge advocate for fasting and intermittent fasting…
youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGalenFoundation
“Researchers found that people who ate less than three meals a day (about 40% of the participants) shared common characteristics such as having less education, lower income, food insecurities, drinking more alcohol, smoking, and have less energy intake overall.” – That statement alone tells you the study is not founded on the right demographic.
What is likely missing is that many of the subjects likely had preexisting health conditions that led them to IF. Or, many of the subjects may have been skipping meals, not because they were following IF, but because they were impoverished and could not obtain healthy nutrition. Studies of this type are often very misleading.
Financial or educational status could mean that one meal may consist of rice and potatoes bs nutrient dense vegetables and protein. It’s not the number of meals daily a person consumes as much as how nutrient dense the meal is.
The article also says
“Researchers found that people who ate less than three meals a day (about 40% of the participants) shared common characteristics such as having less education, lower income, food insecurities, drinking more alcohol, smoking, and have less energy intake overall.”
Do you think perhaps this group was not eating or drinking healthy for the one or two meals a day they were having and also their smoking might have an impact since is rhe number one life shortener?
This article is so skewed and hiding the truth about the study. Cardio vascular death was higher with few meals and all cause death was higher for 3 meals at 4.5 hour interval. The study is faulty as it does not even evaluate or outline what was or should have been eaten. Had it been keto, the results would have been better overall. This is B.S.
I guess winning a Nobel Prize for this topic is not enough evidence for the good of IF. 🤪🤪🤪
Total propaganda to make people sicker AND to use as an excuse for all these “Sudden…”
So, what we’re looking at is a group of people who shared a lot of characteristics you find in people who don’t take care of themselves. This isn’t fasting as a diet, this is poor diet. The people that legit intermittent fast as a planned diet and fitness routine will always live longer and have better health. This headline is dishonest.
HA HA HA HEE HA!
I’ve been fasting for a number of years…this article is complete unsubstantiated drivel.
Could you please reference more than one study and the details of the studies. Also your qualifications to post this type of medical information. The drinkers and smokers have separate risk factors and also the quality of foods consumed would be interesting to understand. Random articles like this could cause mass confusing of information. Should I stop fasting?
Just another doctor who wants to get in the news.
How many people do you know who fast or skip meals who died because of it?
I don’t know of any.
My health has improved, my weight is under control and my body lets me know when it needs sustenance.
And doctors wonder why people don’t trust their advice!
Complete nonsense. I have been following Hagan’s Protocol which allows for an 8 hour eating window every day for ten years now (water fasting the other 16 hours). My weight is normal, I feel great. People say I look great. The thought of food in the morning is distasteful to me and, quite frankly, I don’t think much about food at all.
Game, set, match!
Lol. There are literally dozens of studies done that show the benefits of fasting. What is going on with the world. How does this woke bs get out there. Who is funding it? For what purpose to peddle this bs?
Surveys lie because people have ulterior motives to their answers. Which is why this assertion about intermittent fasting is real fake news, wishing to impart the wrong impression on purpose. Especially because intermittent fasting can cure diabetes, for example, prospects for which BigPharma wants badly to eliminate.
Intermittent fasting is a practice so old its in the Bible.
I’ll also leave this right here.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/research-intermittent-fasting-shows-health-benefits
I call this study BS. What is the purpose? Who is behind it? What are they selling?
Fundamentally flawed “study”
Correlation is not causation.
Our research revealed that individuals eating only one meal a day are more likely to die than those who had more daily meals,” says lead study author Yangbo Sun in a media release.
Think about it, Yangbo. Think about it real hard.
Amen. And maybe it was the smoking and alcohol abuse that killed these people, not so much the fasting. Jesus, what a pile of horse-shiz.
This must be Pharma sponsored BS article. Since, Intermittent fasting and Keto has gained traction and now becoming a norm.
Laughable
This is not true. There are numerous studies that prove people who live the longest healthiest lives practice intermittent fasting.
People in the US die from over eating. Most Americans can afford to skip a few meals here and there.
As someone who has lost, nearly, 80 pounds following an intermittent fasting protocol, I found this article to be…I can’t think of a word that fits better than “really?”
Do you really think that mankind started out eating three meals a day? Why is it every great religion integrates “fasting” into their faith? I guess centuries of keen observation as to what is healthy, and what causes physical ill found no problem with fasting to the point where it became ritualistic.
I think more real studies need to shore up this “new” idea that intermittent fasting is harmful to your health.
“shared common characteristics such as having less education, lower income, food insecurities, drinking more alcohol, smoking, and have less energy intake overall.” So that group of ppl should not be IFFING, but what about the rest of us? Causation, causation, causation.
These people need a good colonic so full of BS.
They did not mention cleansing diets to aid the in elimination of toxins from the colon and small intestines to prevent diseases.
It’s laughable that this study shows 40% of their test group had lower education, smoked and drank alcohol while having food insecurities. This article is a streaming pile of shit. Do real research that shows IMF reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults, promotes cellular atophogy by 200%, and reduces body fat and subcutaneous fat which is harmful to the organs. Clearly hired by the food industry to write a hit piece on keto and IMF.
So basically they just asked people how many meals they ate and those who answered less than three were thrown in the intermittent fasting cohort. This is called science???
What about the folks who are obese and reduce their weight to an accepted norm range utilizing some form of intermittent fasting? Are we suppose to believe that they would have been better off stuffing their face and staying obese. What an amazing piece of sensational writing bs!!!!!
Our bodies were designed to burn carbs and fat as energy. Eat too often without burning off the previous meals and you get fat. Fasting lowered my BMI to 23%. I will never go back to three meals a day with snacks in between. I Fast 20 hours per day with a four hour eating window that includes vitamins and electrolytes.
This is just the info I’ve been selectively looking for. Thank you! Now I can continue eating 3-5 meals per day and do my part to support the casket industry.
This is just the info I’ve been selectively looking for. Thank you! Now I can continue eating 3-5 meals per day and do my part to support big pharma and the casket industry.
“smoked & consumed alcohol”
There is the reason they died, not fasting. I don’t believe their results. I’ve fasted for spiritual exercise reasons & it hasn’t caused me health issues.
“We found the AND has invested funds in corporations such as Nestlé, PepsiCo and pharmaceutical companies, has discussed internal policies to fit industry needs and has had public positions favouring corporations.”
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/corporate-capture-of-the-nutrition-profession-in-the-usa-the-case-of-the-academy-of-nutrition-and-dietetics/9FCF66087DFD5661DF1AF2AD54DA0DF9
“Our research revealed that individuals eating only one meal a day are more likely to die than those who had more daily meals,” says lead study author Yangbo Sun in a media release.”
Now that’s an impressive study. 😂
I generally eat one meal daily, with occasional supplemental mini-meals. Home-made from store ingredients, salmon sandwich on organic wheat/seed bread, lotsa organic produce/berries/bananas/tomatoes (these aren’t organic), cashews, pumpkin seeds, organic beef w/specialty potatoes, some vitamin supplements while always trying to adjust my estimation of their usefulness, filtered/spring water, and a few other goodies. Am 73 y/o and would be rip-roaring if it weren’t for a congenital issue I was informed about years ago that will do me in. I have maybe a year or two max, don’t be silly but enjoy healtjhy food and when it’s your time it’s your time. You have perm ission to go whether some doctor says so or not.
This article demonstrates the problem with the world. People distort the truth for their own benefit, in this case a sensationalist and untrue headline. Obviously people who are poor and drink too much die earlier but these people are not practitioners of intermitent fasting. What a hoax.