The Intermittent Fasting Dilemma: How Many Meals Per Day Should You Eat? by Ori Hofmekler

The Intermittent Fasting Dilemma: How Many Meals Per Day Should You Eat? by Ori Hofmekler

tory at-a-glance

• There is an emerging consensus that narrowing the window of time that you consume food may have enormous health benefits and also help you reduce the percentage of body fat.
• Benefits of intermittent fasting include reduced oxidative stress; increased insulin sensitivity; increased mitochondrial energy efficiency; and increased capacity to resist stress, disease, and aging
• Most intermittent fasting programs, including alternate day fasting, once or twice a week fasting, and once every other week fasting are, in the best case, only partially beneficial as they do not accommodate your circadian rhythm
• Your body is programmed for nocturnal feeding, and the one meal a day regimen is the only intermittent fasting (IF) program that accommodates your innate circadian clock and maximize the beneficial effects you get from IF on a daily basis
• Most foods negate the effects of fasting, but there are some exceptions. Foods that can be safely eaten without compromising your fast include fast-assimilating nutrient-dense foods such as quality whey protein, green vegetables and berries

The intermittent fasting approach has been getting increased recognition these days. But 10 years ago, it was a different story.
When I introduced The Warrior Diet concept about 12 years ago, it was highly criticized by mainstream fitness authorities as an "extreme and dangerous" approach to dieting. Telling people to skip breakfast and lunch was like committing dietary heresy.
The Warrior Diet book was the first to offer a diet plan based on intermittent fasting. Yes, at that time, it felt like I was the only person in the world arguing for substituting the frequent feeding approach of several meals per day with one meal per day.