Irregular Eating Habits

            After reading over a few of the food journals I found a trend that most people didn’t have a regular eating schedule.  This made me curious if there were any negative or positive outcomes from not eating consistent meals.  While looking for a medical journal that reported studying in this area I had assumed that eating the routine three meals a day was the most healthy way to eat.  I was very surprised to find that while there were some detrimental effects from having irregular meals some aspects of health were unchanged.

            The study focused on middle aged (40-50 years old) men and women.  The study lasted six months.  In this six month period there was two eight week segments where the participants would either eat three meals a day, as a control, or 1 meal per day.  There was an eleven week period that separated the two eight week segments where the subjects were allowed to resume their normal diets.  The nutritional levels were balanced so that the people eating three meals a day would be eating as much as the people who ate only one meal per day.  Simply put, the people who ate only one meal per day ate enough food in that one meal to equal the three meals that the other subjects ate.

            This study concluded that overall it was unhealthy to eat only one large meal per day.  The subjects experienced a, “significant reduction of fat mass and significant increases in levels of total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  While high-density lipoproteins are good for you, the low-density lipoprotein is not.  Also a significant increase in both is detrimental to your health.  There was also an increased sensitivity to insulin in the one meal per day subjects. This caused the participants to have an, “improved cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk profiles.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)

I was taken by surprise by three results of this study.  The first thing that I was surprised by was that, “all subjects maintained their body weight within 2 kg of their initial weight throughout the 6-month period.” (Carlson, Olga et al.)  I would have guessed that the people eating three meals per day would maintain a constant body weight while the individuals eating only one meal per day would gain or lose weight.  The second result that I found surprising was that there were no long lasting ill effects on glucose levels once the subjects returned to a regular 3-meal per day diet.  Also, health benefits do come from eating only one meal per day. This is only applicable when the one meal contains all essential nutrients and enough calories to keep you going but, this diet “can result in health benefits including improved glucose regulation, but only if there is an overall reduction in energy intake.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  I am surprised that there is any good in only eating one meal per day. 

            From this study, simply put, it is apparent that eating one large meal per day is bad for your health.  There is an increase in rick for cardiovascular problems as well as an increased risk for diabetes.  While eating a smaller balanced meal once per day can help regulate your glucose I still feel that eating three meals per day is the healthiest way to consume food. 

Works Cited:

Carlson, Olga, Bronwen Martin, Kim S. Stote, Erin Golden, Stuart Maudsley, Samer S. Najjar, Luigi Ferrucci, Donald K. Ingram, Dan L. Longo, William V. Rumpler, David J. Baer, Josephine Egan, and Mark P. Mattson. "Impact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and WomenImpact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and Women." Metabolism 56.12 (2007): 1729-734. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049507002806>.