How Frequency Of Meals May Affect Health - Page 2

Mike ODonnell · 03-12-2008, 10:39 AM

I don't think you overload the body....it will produce the neccessary digestive enzymes. You may feel a bit sluggish with a full stomach as digestion takes alot of blood flow. Protein also takes a long time to digest. Only health concerns I would see are an overload with fat and the gallbladder having issues producing enough bile (or getting a stone stuck in the ducts). Slow digestion is good, just look at a snake that eats a full animal and then spends time sleeping while it digests. For a more active lifestyle smaller more frequent meals (even in an IF window) would probably be a better option. The other negative I can see is a small amount of calories per day if done consistently leading to slower metabolism. But this goes along with the warrior diet mentality.

David Culmone · 03-12-2008, 11:29 AM

That all makes sense...thanks. So what I'm understanding is that there isn't a drastic physiological downside in a single daily 2200 calorie low-carb meal. Especially if consumed in the evening when afterwards one can sit on the couch and doze off. And in that scenario some benefits of IF would be incurred because the fast would last well over 15 hours to more like 20 or 21.

btw, the warrior-diet promotes eating during the day. hofmekler calls it the undereating phase, and he recommends consuming fructose in that period. (WD, page 20)

Mike ODonnell · 03-12-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Culmone

2200 calorie low-carb meal?

Damn....good luck with that. Even with 100g of protein (x4 for cal)...that's 1800 cal of fat (/9) or 200g fat in one serving?? Health wise that just doesn't sound good.....gallbladder may not be happy with you.

There is the insulin response factor for a large meal too.....although low carb is lower insulin, I believe large protein meals still stimulates some insulin....hence the whole smaller meal theory for stable insulin.

Garrett Smith · 03-12-2008, 03:29 PM

If one is eating so much that they feel disgustingly full or has to sleep it off, I don't think that's good in any way.

Greg Battaglia · 03-12-2008, 06:05 PM

Another big issue with the one meal/day thing is that the eating window is far too condensed, especially is you want to mimic paleo eating patterns. Think about it.....if you eat moderately during that one meal in order to prevent digestive, insulin, oxidative effects you're going to end up with too few calories and you'll begin to waste lean body mass and elevate stress hormones. The stress becomes chronic rather than acute. Conversely, if you gorge in an effort to get all the calories you need to maintain lean body mass you're going to create issues with digestion, insulin, AGE's, and oxidation. You just can't win with this approach.

The solution? Larger feeding window with more evenly spread, moderate meals. I would go with an absolute minimum of 6 hours for a feeding window. But wait, then IF loses it's convenience! This is something I discovered the hard way. The take-home message is that eating healthy is going to take some sacrifice in our modern society. It's sad but true. This doesn't mean that we should scrap IF altogether. Some people, depending on their schedule, can design a good IF program that can work synergistically with their schedule to simplify their life. Others will find that IF actually makes life more complicated.

So, if you can make IF work for you then go for it. If not, then go with what will and take the message from all the IF literature as a plus when you miss a meal here and there.

Make IF work for you, don't work for IF.

Ari Kestler · 03-12-2008, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Battaglia

Make IF work for you, don't work for IF.

This is really profound and deserves some respect in it of itself...Even now, after doing this for the last few months, I still only feel that IF is working for me 2/3s of the time. The other 1/3 of the time I am definitely working for IF. Either I'm gorging on 2 huge meals in a 5 hour window and feeling bloated/uncomfortable and disgustingly full or I'm not eating enough cause I can't get the food in in time and then I have serious hunger pangs the following day while fasting... Definitely takes some playing around with variables...

Thanks for this quote.

Greg Battaglia · 03-12-2008, 09:04 PM

Awesome, I'm glad it helped. Always glad to help.

Quote:

Either I'm gorging on 2 huge meals in a 5 hour window and feeling bloated/uncomfortable and disgustingly full or I'm not eating enough cause I can't get the food in in time and then I have serious hunger pangs the following day while fasting.

This is exactly what I mean, prime example. I found the same thing through my experience. Check Art D's stuff. I think he's found a great way to IF without all the downsides. Basically: fast, then eat a good bit of calories spread out over a large time frame. Never stuff yourself.

Sort of ruins the convenience aspect in some respect, but it works.

David Culmone · 03-13-2008, 01:24 AM

Wow, I didn't realize there was so much difficulty in getting enough calories in just 1 meal. In my case, I typically eat 1800 calories in a 150/100/40 gram distribution of fat/protein/carb. After a spinach salad w/nuts+cheese, a nice 10oz steak, and some eggs for dessert I feel full, but not stuffed or 'disgustingly full'. Mabye you guys' caloric needs are much higher than mine, I don't know, but I could easily eat even more than what I just mentioned.

And don't you think it's important to rest after eating? The energy used for digestion compromises other bodily functions, for example the immune system. How does that work when you're eating during the day?

Tracy Kay · 03-13-2008, 01:56 AM

I am very new to IF, this is my third day, and I have been using a 19 hour fast with a five hour eating window. So far I have eaten at least twice in every window and have not felt stuffed or hungry and have not experienced unbearable hunger pains - really just a consiousness that I am hungry and haven't eaten yet for the day. I am not counting calories or grams of protien - I am eating primarily lean meats, tuna and vegetables, salads (have had a few a couple of oatmeal raisin nut cookies). So far no issues.

Based on what folks are saying above, you all do different lengths of fasting. What is the the range? Do you do it every day, M-F, eod, etc. I think I am going to be able to do this daily, since as I already said I have no issues - but maybe I am in the honeymoon phase?

Allen Yeh · 03-13-2008, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Culmone

Wow, I didn't realize there was so much difficulty in getting enough calories in just 1 meal. In my case, I typically eat 1800 calories in a 150/100/40 gram distribution of fat/protein/carb. After a spinach salad w/nuts+cheese, a nice 10oz steak, and some eggs for dessert I feel full, but not stuffed or 'disgustingly full'. Mabye you guys' caloric needs are much higher than mine, I don't know, but I could easily eat even more than what I just mentioned.

And don't you think it's important to rest after eating? The energy used for digestion compromises other bodily functions, for example the immune system. How does that work when you're eating during the day?

Why 1800 total calories per day?