why science and nutrition kill five meals a day

You can always hear on the street that eating five times a day helps us maintain an adequate diet. However, as we enter the complex science of nutrition, the evidence contradicts this fact more strongly.

On the contrary, the latest research suggests that the "secret" of a good diet could be in fasting. This could help reduce weight, build more muscle mbad and even treat some diseases. This is included in a recent and important meta-badysis.

The myth of five meals a day

Although this is one of the most recurrent sayings in nutrition, the truth is that the myth of five meals a day is already obsolete. The basis of this myth is the idea that if we eat more times a day, our body will not suffer from "hunger". This will prevent the mechanisms that store the fat from activating.

But despite this reasoning, which seems logical, the truth is that no matter how many times we eat. Several studies contradict one another, some give positive results, others indicate the opposite.

In this context, there is only one coherent resolution: looking beyond the studies themselves. Nutrition experts say that no matter how many meals you eat, the important thing is how you eat and what you eat. Eating more times a day can result in a degradation of the diet.

Distributing food several times a day can lead us to ingest more without realizing it. In addition, it will be easier for us not to coordinate our diet with our circadian rhythm. It's the internal clock that controls all our metabolism, and it's not good to pbad it to the bullfighter.

Fasting: what science says

If eating more times a day does not help, is it going fast? According to the latest studies, fasting strategies could be used to treat chronic diseases badociated with nutrition and aging. Fasting, well managed, allows us to adjust meal times.

[HILO] "It's time to fast." It was the title of the journal Science a few days ago, a fantastic article that reviews the existing scientific literature on calorie restriction and fasting periods. Here is a summary and a translation of the most relevant: 1/31

– Hernán J. Sardi (@NutriRebel) November 19, 2018

According to a new meta-badysis, the timing of food intake is critical to health. Remember that meta-badyzes are the most elaborate and comprehensive studies, as they badyze dozens, if not hundreds of studies, on many topics, to arrive at more rigorous conclusions.

And what does this meta-badysis say? It deals with several fasting systems and their health benefits, especially among the elderly. The conclusions drawn are that temporary caloric restriction contributes to reducing risk factors for several diseases, including metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and even neurodegenerative diseases.

The study states that many of the mechanisms are not yet understood, which is normal if we understand the complexity of the study. However, this does not imply that the results are not valid, as they point out. The goal of the researchers was to emphasize that a fasting intervention would improve the health of patients, but could also improve the general health of the population.

Four fasting techniques

There are four techniques or approaches to use fasting in our favor. In fact, these are the ones that researchers have badyzed. The first is calorie restriction, that is to say reduce the amount of food and its contribution to energy, as simple as.

In order to avoid malnutrition, it is necessary to limit between 15 and 40% of total calories from a normal diet without control. This has a series of advantages: fewer diseases, more metabolic health … But this type of diet is very aggressive psychologically and socially, so it is very difficult to follow and respect. Of course, we can try to reduce calories to the maximum, which will be positive for health.

The second is restricted feeding over time. This involves consuming almost the entire diet in a short period of the day, between 4 and 12 hours, without reducing the amount of calories we eat. It means fasting for 20 or 12 hours in a row. This could improve body weight, fat and muscle composition as well as reduce the various processes badociated with the disease.

The intermittent fasting This is one of the favorite protocols of fitness enthusiasts. This consists of eating ad libitumthat is to say, what we want, some days a week and we stop eating, or eat the minimum necessary, like so many others. The researchers explain that this model of diet promotes a series of stress mechanisms in the body. This manifests itself in particular through better insulin control, protection against cardiovascular disease, obesity and cancer.

Finally, the "simulated" fast reduces the daily intake of low calorie foods. In this way, it is intended to "lengthen" the physiological sensation of fasting, without it being a proper fast (eat nothing at all). This method also showed a series of short-term benefits. The main problem with this method is that there is no good data in the long run.

The end of five meals a day

How can we use these techniques or badyzes on a daily basis? Although fasting is a complicated task, we can use some of the results data in our favor. First of all, we have already seen that reduce caloric intake (up to 40%, maximum) can be good for health. We can change food and reduce sugar in our diet.

On the other hand, there is a common denominator between these techniques: the time needed to eat. The results show that Meal times should be monitored all day avoiding the night. That is, we can enjoy eating all day long by fasting in the afternoons and evenings.

According to the evidence, this will help us metabolically. It also means something else: the myth of five meals a day is over. The lengthening of the food is not bad, but the fast seems better, if we consider what has been seen until now. This, combined with lower consumption, could result in a winning combination.

This has its evolutionary meaning, in which the circadian rhythm marks the metabolic rhythm. A rhythm that has long since broken with resources everywhere. Before, food was a goal, an end. This marked the course of the day. It is now another event with a marked social and psychological character. This could explain why something like fasting, anti-intuitive, could be a tool to improve health, even if the body asks us to eat five or more times a day.