The great ‘one meal a day’ myth: Why the celebrity OMAD diet is no weight loss miracl

[Peter1469]

One meal a day can be a weight loss plan. Unless that one meal consumes more calories than you burn during the day. But the one meal a day plan leads to both fat and muscle loss. That is very bad for you.

The great ‘one meal a day’ myth: Why the celebrity OMAD diet is no weight loss miracle

Society has an ongoing fascination with the constantly shifting trends in celebrity diets. The one meal a day (or OMAD) diet is one such trend, reportedly championed by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, football pundit Gary Lineker and even Rishi Sunak, the prime minister. But does the science back up the claims?


OMAD is an extreme fasting diet. As the name suggests, it involves eating just one big meal a day, with fasting or very minimal eating in between. The key focus of this kind of diet is weight control and simplicity.



There are many celebrity anecdotes surrounding OMAD and from an evolutionary point of view, it can seem reasonable to suggest that human biology is better suited to less frequent meals. This theory is based on our ancestors often experiencing cycles of feasting and fasting rather than the relatively modern construct of three meals a day.


But while fasting itself isn’t new, the research on its health impacts is still in its infancy and there are very few studies on OMAD and the evidence supporting other more periodic types of fasting can’t necessarily be extrapolated into extreme fasting.



One trial exists on OMAD, where participants ate only one meal a day, or three meals per day, with their calorie intakes tailored to theoretically maintain their current weight.



When on one meal per day they reduced body weight and fat levels, and displayed features of “metabolic flexibility” (changes in measures of how fats and carbohydrates are metabolised). But participants also experienced a loss of muscle and bone mass. This highlights that a focus on weight loss alone can miss the potential downsides of this kind of diet.

[NoisyBoy]

I do intermittent fasting which I have stated on here before.Usually 16 to 17 hours fasting with a 7-8 hr eating window. Which is usually 2 meals and a snack. But, like you say you have to have a calorie cap. Mine is around 1850. So far, so good. I have hit a plateau it seems, not gaining and not losing, may have to change it up a bit. The body is a amazing thing, it adapts.

[Peter1469]

I do intermittent fasting which I have stated on here before.Usually 16 to 17 hours fasting with a 7-8 hr eating window. Which is usually 2 meals and a snack. But, like you say you have to have a calorie cap. Mine is around 1850. So far, so good. I have hit a plateau it seems, not gaining and not losing, may have to change it up a bit. The body is a amazing thing, it adapts.

With as much energy I burn, my calorie cap is 3000 cal. So intermittent fasting couldn't work for me, at least with eating healthy food.

[LWW]

Yesterday I only had one meal.

It consisted of:

- Two crumpets with SF jelly.
- Three LAURA'S LEAN burgers.
- Four turkish soudjuk (SP?) on buns.
- Two large servings of El Dubya's baked beans and franks.
- Two large servings of petite gold potatoes.
- Two large servings of Korean bulgogi and rice.
- Something called manakeesh (SP?).

I don't often eat like this, but on holiday weekends we do.

We live in a multi-culture upper middle class neighborhood, and in rotating local church parking lots be all bring out grills and have a sort of greatness of Americafest

[NoisyBoy]

Yesterday I only had one meal.

It consisted of:

- Two crumpets with SF jelly.
- Three LAURA'S LEAN burgers.
- Four hotdogs.
- Two large servings of El Dubya's baked beans and franks.
- Two large servings of petite gold potatoes.
- Two large servings of Korean bulgogi and rice.
- Something called manakeesh (SP?).

I don't often eat like this, but on holiday weekends I do.

Loves me some petite gold potatoes.The petite reds are pretty good too.

[NoisyBoy]

With as much energy I burn, my calorie cap is 3000 cal. So intermittent fasting couldn't work for me, at least with eating healthy food.

I hear ya. I'm 66 and pretty active myself. But, man does it comes off hard at this age.

[LWW]

Loves me some petite gold potatoes.The petite reds are pretty good too.

They are, and I changed hot dogs ... American misinterpretation ... to soudjuks (SP?) as I had to ask the wife what the neighbors called them.

[LWW]

I hear ya. I'm 66 and pretty active myself. But, man does it comes off hard at this age.

All day meals are brutal at our age, I'm 66+ a few months, come the next day.

[Peter1469]

I hear ya. I'm 66 and pretty active myself. But, man does it comes off hard at this age.

Yes, you lose lean muscle mass as you age so that screws up your metabolism.

The counter to that is resistance training.