Is eating one meal a day good for your health?

Eating one meal a day is used by many people to lose weight and improve health, also known as intermittent fasting (OMAD).

With conventional intermittent fasting, the practitioner only eats during a specific period of time, usually 8 to 10 hours a day. During the remaining time, they will not consume any foods and drinks that contain calories. A popular method of intermittent fasting is the 16/8 pattern, in which you fast for 16 hours and eat for 8 hours.

OMAD is quite an extreme method and can cause many consequences.

Eating only one meal a day can cause gastrointestinal problems. Because the fasting period is too long, you easily feel hungry. If the appetite is not controlled at the next meal, it will lead to overeating, creating abnormal gastric acid secretion, affecting gastrointestinal motility. This condition causes serious damage to the stomach, reduces the ability to digest and absorb nutrients, and even causes malnutrition and anemia.

Additionally, eating one meal a day also reduces muscle mass and function. Inadequate intake of vitamin D and calcium over a long period of time will reduce bone strength. On the other hand, fasting for many consecutive hours can cause blood sugar levels to drop too low, leading to hypoglycemia, difficulty concentrating at work, and physical weakness. Especially for people who work manually or mentally… if they do not receive adequate nutrition, it will easily lead to weakness, affecting their work and quality of life.

It is best to still eat 3 meals a day, you can divide meals into smaller portions, use diverse food groups, providing all 4 groups of nutrients.

For people who want to lose weight, it is necessary to combine diet and long-term exercise. Besides, limit processed foods and foods containing unsaturated fats.

To be safe, within a month you should only lose 5 – 10% of your weight.