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 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.
The study needs a different focus.
Eating one-meal-day can be bad if the people being studied “shared common characteristics such as having less education, lower income, food insecurities, drinking more alcohol, smoking, and have less energy intake overall.”
What we REALLY want to know is whether eating one-meal-per-day is healthy or unhealthy when performed by the people who eat well/clean, exercise regularly, and so on.
The study author said they adjusted for some of those factors
“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,” said Wei Bao, another author of the study.”
Bull dung! This study must be paid by food and junk lobby! Doing. I’m 57, doing IF 16:8 for over a year and never felt better. I don’t drink, smoke, post graduate and make six figure salary!
true
I am not here to dispute the results. I do wonder though, why when people cut carbs and meals they can and do reverse Type ll diabetes
Right on! My MIL was diabetic for over ten years. She was taking tons of medication and insulin. Started 18/6 IF and low carb diet. One year later she is totally off all of her diabetic medications and has dropped thirty pounds.
Does this article count as the “newest diet trend”?
I call BS
What a trash article. They just want people sick and spending money on doctors
You got that right.
Are these the same people that told us the clot shot had 95% efficacy?
Intermittent fasting does not mean skipping meals. It means going a period of time without eating eg not eating after 18.00, then picking up again at 6.00.
Been doing 18/6 fasting with a low carb diet for over 18 months. I’m down 25 pounds to a healthy body weight and my blood work numbers have NEVER looked better. Not even inn my twenties. No more bulging belly. I guarantee you there are a LOT of factors that this study is not taking into account. I’ll just stick to what I’m doing. If I die early at least I won’t go out a fat miserable diabetic.
I wonder who financed this study, the food producing corporations?
My Study says: Man didn’t evolve eating meals 4.5 hours apart. For thousands of years intermittent fasting was a way of life.