Is OMAD diet good for you? The benefits outlined.

First let’s talk about OMAD.

The One Meal A Day (OMAD) diet is an extreme version of time-restricted eating, like intermittent fasting. However, unlike intermittent fasting which usually allows a four or eight-hour eating window, the OMAD diet has a one-hour eating window. So you fast for the other 23 hours of the day. Crazy, right? Yes… But let’s look at the benefits.

What is OMAD according to Dr. Berg?

If you follow weight loss trends, then you may have come across this one meal a day approach. To some, it may sound extreme and like something that is more of a hassle than it is worth. But, in fact, there are many advantages to this fasting style.

This pattern of eating can have some profound health benefits like weight loss, improving cognition, and preventing disease. Not to mention, it can help you save time and money. Once you get used to it, it isn’t nearly as hard as it sounds.

How Does OMAD Work?

Woman eating tasty salad in cafe | Benefits of Only Eating One Meal A Day

One meal a day is not so much a diet but rather a particular version of intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting involves alternating between periods of eating and periods of consuming no calories at all (also known as fasting). As the name implies, with OMAD, you eat only once per day. You spend 23 hours of the day fasting and have a one-hour eating window. During that time, you eat your single, large meal. You consume the number of calories you need for the entire day during those 60 minutes.

The extended fasting period during the one meal a day diet is beneficial to the body for many reasons, many of which I go into more detail below. One of the main things to understand is when we fast, the Fat Storing Hormone levels in the body drop. Correcting Fat Storing Hormone resistance and blood sugar issues is essential in avoiding common health problems. Doing this through fasting can help solve a lot of problems throughout the body and can help you with everything from weight loss to memory issues.

Who Should Try the One Meal a Day Diet?

It is important to note that only people who have prior experience with intermittent fasting should try the OMAD diet. I do not advise going straight from your regular habits to a single meal per day. This causes excessive stress on your body, which only harms you rather than help. Build yourself up to the fasting schedule of one meal per day by gradually increasing the time you fast daily.

When Is the Best Time to Eat One Meal a Day?

It is up to the individual to determine when is the best time to consume his/her calories for the day. Some people prefer to eat all of their daily required calories at breakfast time, some at lunch, and some at dinner. There are many different viewpoints out there, and there is no absolute right answer to what is best. In my opinion, if you want to work with the body as much as possible, eating later in the day is preferred.

Our bodies spend much of the day under the control of the sympathetic branch of our nervous system. This system controls the fight or flight response and helps us respond and react to stress. So during the day, our bodies are naturally a little more stressed.

As the day goes on and we transition into night, the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system kicks in. This branch promotes rest and digestion. In the latter part of the day, our bodies are better suited for good digestion. This is one reason why I recommend eating your one meal either later in the afternoon or in the evening.

Eating later in the day also makes it convenient to enjoy your meals with others. You can still participate in family dinners around the dining room table, go to a dinner party, or join friends out for an evening meal.

Avoiding Nutrient Deficiencies

Vegetable Salad | Benefits of Only Eating One Meal A Day

Some versions of the one meal a day diet allow you to eat anything you want (really, anything at all) in your single meal. I recommend making that meal as nutrient dense and full of hearty superfoods as possible. Avoid carbs and eat lots of healthy vegetables (a plant-based diet), along with healthy sources of fat and lean protein.

My recommended diet plan follows the idea of Healthy Keto™, which is a healthy version of ketosis and fasting. It helps you provide your body with enough nutrients to stay healthy. If you are concerned about nutrient deficiencies while doing OMAD, watch this video. In the video, I list down the common symptoms that can occur early on when you start to become low in various nutrients. It is important to make healthy food choices while eating only one meal a day. Make sure you get all the micronutrients and macronutrients your body needs in that short window.

Benefits of OMAD.

According to Dr. Berg, there are 23 benefits of OMAD.

Top 23 Benefits of the One Meal a Day Diet

What are some of the best things you get out of eating one meal a day? Here are the top eating one meal a day benefits:

1. Save Money

Piggy bank | Benefits of Only Eating One Meal A Day

When you eat only one meal a day, there is no doubt you will save money. I estimate your savings to be at least $600 per month. When you cut down on the amount of groceries you have to buy, as well as the number of times you eat out, the savings can be significant.

2. Save Time

People spend a lot of time on food. Whether it’s due to grocery shopping, meal prepping, eating, cleaning up, or packing something for on the go, the work and time to make several meals a day add up. Without as much time dedicated to food, you can do other things more productive and exciting to you.

3. Improve Digestion

Fasting for so long each day can really help take the pressure off the digestive system. It gives your gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, and large bowel a rest. The one meal a day meal plan can be especially helpful for people with digestive issues, like irritable bowel syndrome.

4. Boost the Immune System

Going for long periods of fasting is a powerful way to increase immune activity. Whether you have allergies, autoimmune conditions, or inflammatory conditions, intermittent fasting is a great choice. In this video, watch me explain more about this connection and how fasting might even help fight cancer.

5. Increase Autophagy

Autophagy refers to a process in the body in which damaged cell parts are recycled into new tissues. It also helps rid the body of things like viruses, mold, fungi, and candida. Fasting boosts this recycling and detoxifying process. This strengthens the immune system and keeps the body fresh and healthy. Learn more about autophagy in this video.

6. Live Longer

Fasting is a great anti-aging tool that promotes long, healthy living. This is linked to how fasting increases autophagy. It is also related to how fasting boosts human growth hormone, a potent anti-aging factor.

7. Reduce Hunger

You might think that if you are limited to food only once a day, you’ll be starving the rest of the day. But when you fully adapt to this way of eating and your body fully transitions into fat-burning mode, hunger actually goes away. You feel a lot less hungry overall.

8. Get Rid of Cravings

Once your body is fully keto-adapted, you don’t experience cravings anymore. It takes a while to get there but not having to fight cravings ever again is an excellent benefit.

9. Have Great Skin

This pattern of eating can help your skin look and feel great. You may experience smoother, younger skin due to the anti-aging effects and increased autophagy benefits.

10. Increase Energy

People Jumping | Benefits of Only Eating One Meal A Day

Wouldn’t it feel great to experience light, bubbly energy? That is what you can look forward to when doing the one meal a day diet: tons of physical energy.

RELATED: What Nutrients Are Recommended on OMAD or One Meal a Day

11. Improve Mood

A lot of mood problems are due to underlying blood sugar problems. This is the case for things like depression and anxiety. When you fast and Fat Storing Hormone and blood sugar issues get under control, your mood improves, and you feel so much better.

12. Increase Cognitive Function

This pattern of eating is really great for boosting cognition. It can benefit things like dementia, poor memory, lack of focus, and trouble concentrating. Once your body is used to this style of eating, all of that improves.

13. Decrease Inflammatory Conditions

Relief from conditions such as arthritis, tendonitis, and bursitis can happen when you only have one meal a day. This is because the blood sugar issues are often at the root of inflammation. When you correct those problems, the inflammation decreases.

14. Decrease Blood Pressure

High Fat Storing Hormone is behind high blood pressure. OMAD decreases Fat Storing Hormone in the body, bringing your blood pressure down along with it.

15. Protect Your Arteries and Heart

Intermittent fasting, especially one meal a day, helps protect your arteries. Again, this comes down to Fat Storing Hormone levels. Fat Storing Hormone resistance and diabetes can cause lots of problems to your arteries and can result in heart problems, too. Fixing that through prolonged fasting supports a healthy heart.

16. Improve Dementia

As mentioned earlier, problems with Fat Storing Hormone resistance can contribute to memory problems, and this can lead to dementia. Intermittent fasting can help improve these conditions. Learn more about the link between Fat Storing Hormone and memory in this video.

17. Improve Diabetes

Are your blood sugar levels out of control? Do you have diabetes? The ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting can help you improve your condition. A low-carb keto diet along with intermittent fasting are two great tools for diabetes. Watch me explain more in this video. It works for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

18. Fix a Fatty Liver

This extreme style of intermittent fasting actually helps take fat off of the liver. This can help correct fatty liver disease. Learn more about reversing a fatty liver here.

19. Turn the Body into a Fat Burning Machine

Couple Exercising | Benefits of Only Eating One Meal A Day

One of the benefits people love the most about the OMAD diet is helping them lose weight. When in full fasting mode, your body becomes well-adapted to burning fat. When you eat this way, you burn fat and get a flatter belly.

20. Improve Your Personal Discipline

The ability to withstand any food consumption for 23 hours takes true willpower. Doing this extreme intermittent fasting schedule is a practice. It is one that takes a lot of self-discipline. It as an exercise in strengthening your personal willpower and discipline.

21. Improve Muscles

You might be worried you’ll harm your muscles if you don’t eat for so long daily. However, fasting allows the growth hormone to be boosted, which helps protect against muscle loss. In fact, fasting actually helps increase muscle density and mass, not the other way around.

22. Fix a Slow Metabolism

If you have a slow metabolism, then this is truly the style of eating meant for you. It helps raise your metabolism and shed fat. Learn more about fixing a slow metabolism here.

23. Boost Mental Clarity

People who try the one meal a day diet report feeling really, really good mentally. Some even report a euphoric-type feeling. In fact, once they start eating, that is when they actually feel worse. Fasting is a powerful way to experience better mental clarity and sharpness.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading this. Above, we have outlined the benefits of the OMAD diet however there are alot of negative side effects as well. And, the true benefits vary depending whether you are a woman or a man. Stay tuned for more.

Dr. Liia Ramachandra

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