Is it really healthy to eat once a day? Experts share their views on the “OMAD diet”
The traditional guideline is to eat three meals a day, but popular diet plans require some people to eat just once.
Known as the one-meal-a-day (OMAD) diet, it’s a form of intermittent fasting that involves eating an entire day’s worth of calories in one meal after fasting for 23 hours.
Canadian nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung (kidney specialist) is known as the expert on intermittent fasting (IF). He spoke to Fox News Digital about the OMAD diet, which he described as a stricter version of IF.
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Feng points out that both diets involve “time-restricted eating,” but with intermittent fasting, people can eat twice a day.
If you only eat once a day, you’ll naturally tend to eat less, he says.
The One Meal a Day (OMAD) diet is a form of intermittent fasting that involves consuming an entire day’s worth of calories in one meal after fasting for 23 hours. (iStock)
Experts say the body is either in a state of storing calories or in a state of burning calories.
Feng said that when a person fastes for an extended period of time, the body begins to use fat for energy, which can actually reduce hunger.
Who can benefit?
Two major health conditions that can benefit greatly from OMAD and intermittent fasting are weight loss and type 2 diabetes, Fung said.
“Fasting does affect weight and sugar because that’s how calories are stored as sugar and fat,” he says.
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Doctors say that in addition to reducing back pain, knee pain and joint stress, weight loss can also reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and obesity-related cancers.
“You can actually reverse type 2 diabetes through intermittent fasting,” Feng said, citing previously published research from the National Institutes of Health and the Diabetes Care Institute.
When a person fastes for an extended period of time, the body begins to use fat for energy, which can actually reduce hunger, one expert says. (iStock)
Fung described how one of his patients, who had been diabetic for 15 years, was able to stop insulin therapy after following the OMAD diet three times a week for a month.
He added that the patient remained off insulin and continued to fast regularly, albeit less frequently.
“You can actually reverse type 2 diabetes through intermittent fasting.”
People with hypoglycemia who are not taking blood sugar-lowering medications for type 2 diabetes should still follow the OMAD diet if they avoid highly refined carbohydrates, which can cause blood sugar levels to spike, Fung said.
He recommends eating whole, natural, unprocessed foods.
“Fasting does affect weight and sugar because that’s how calories are stored as sugar and fat,” one fasting expert told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Fern Katzman, a clinical nutritionist in Toronto, told Fox News Digital that she has seen patients with type 2 diabetes stop taking metformin, an oral anti-diabetic drug, or not need to take metformin at all after doing intermittent fasting (OMAD).
People should have reasons to continue using OMAD, Katzman said, such as to address a medical problem or to lower blood sugar levels that have risen after a period of overeating.
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“Insulin creates cravings,” she told Fox News Digital. “When you eat a lot or drink a lot, your insulin spikes, which makes you feel hungry.”
Katzman added, “One thing everyone tells me after completing OMAD is that cravings stop—which is key to any weight loss program.”
Two major health conditions that could benefit greatly from OMAD and intermittent fasting are weight loss and type 2 diabetes, according to one expert. (iStock)
In addition to weight loss, Katzman says her patients report improved digestion and less bloating while on the OMAD diet, because “sugar creates yeast, and yeast makes you bloat.”
Patients also notice an immediate improvement in their mood and energy levels after the diet, she adds.
Katzman recommends supplementing with vegetables, protein and grains such as quinoa and a small amount of brown rice.
“Not for everyone”
Katzman warned that OMAD “is not for everyone” — for example, it may not be a good option for those with eating disorders or low blood sugar.
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Dr. Lisa Young, a registered dietitian in Florida, echoed these concerns and warned that the OMAD diet may trigger eating disorders.
“You’re not focusing on your gut internal signals of hunger and fullness,” she told Fox News Digital. “You don’t believe in yourself.”
For those following the diet, experts recommend sticking to “whole, natural, unprocessed foods.” (iStock)
Young also warned that the diet can “make you feel fatigued.”
“It may even make you hungrier and cause hypoglycemia,” she adds.
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Dr. Joel Kahn, a holistic cardiologist in Michigan, is also not a supporter of the OMAD diet.
The doctor points to research from the National Institutes of Health and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) confirming that eating only one meal at night can lead to decreased metabolic health, higher blood sugar levels and increased insulin resistance.
“You’re not focusing on your gut internal signals of hunger and fullness.”
“Theoretically, if you were going to do a one-meal-a-day diet, you might actually do it in the morning,” Kahn told Fox News Digital.
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Instead, the doctor recommended the Daniel Diet, which he described as a “faith-based diet” of plants and legumes inspired by the Book of Daniel.
Khan is also a fan of the Prolon 5-Day Plan, a plant-based fasting-mimicking diet that he says can help people achieve a younger biological age.
