Chris

In the other study, cardivascular end points such as LDL, HDL, total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and cortisol were measured. The actualy data shows that LDL AND HDL went up so these effects are cancelling. The reported increase in systolic blood pressure was still within normal range, so this is a non finding ie: blood pressure went from statistically health and normal to statistically health and normal. NO EFFECT!

Cortisol actually went down on the one meal per day program. And the biggest confounder of this study was that blood measurements were taken at different times of day for the 3 meal per day group compared to the 1 meal per day group. Many of the blood markers and hormones tested will change simply by the time of day they were taken and how many hours fasted the 3 meal per day vs 1 meal per day group were. The researchers admit this is a limitation of their study that could affect the comparability of the blood test results. And they are right, 12 hours in the morning is much different than 18-20 hours fasted in the afternoon etc…They should have tested both groups at the exact same time of day and number of ours fasted, otherwise the results will not be comparable.

The biggest point from this research that nobody here is commenting on is that the 1 meal per day group lost a significant amount of weight and the 3 mealers didn’t!

Overall this research seems to be saying that one meal per day is just as safe as 3, and in fact you will lose weight!

John

What I’ve had to do (which I was so hesistant to do based on how I felt it was not in line with a paleo experience) is break my meals down to relatively small portions. A really big meal, paleo or not, is gonna leave you with the “gorge” feeling -> mainly lethargy. I suspect that the glycemic content of food is not the only factor in insulin control. Devany has alluded to this I think. [the recent research on artificial sweeteners also seems relevant]

Just this last week I’ve been (still in the context of partial IF) splitting a typical meal size into 2 parts, trying to eat until just before that full feeling. Even if I only wait an hour before having a bit more it makes all the difference. I think it falls into place when you finally let go of that last inkling of BB mentality telling you to concern yourself with how many calories to get in.

Energy levels seem to be riding high more consistently. And that is the most significant reason I am so interested in paleo/IF in the first place.

The way I see things is this: there is a “missing gap” between the evolutionary logic of seasonality, seasonal variations in insulin sensitivity. It just doesn’t fit our modern lifestyles to adopt gorge eating habits. A hunter gather likely does gorge to extremes when food is plentiful, and lies around doing nothing after such meals. That is how their seasons rotate between high and low insulin sensitivity. But the EF model is much more elegant than that. One could even argue that it is “transhumanist” in the sense that it deviates significantly from our “natural” lifestyle but manipulates our genes to enhance our hormone profiles to our needs.

Before that I was doing low carb, but was eating five to six small meals a day. As you said, Mark, that’s just not all that feasible when you work in an office or are a road warrior — my job entails both sometimes. But after trying out IF, and doing it pretty consistently, I came to understand that I don’t need to eat THAT often and that hunger in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. Now on my non-IF days, I’m still practicing some form of IF because I’m eating two decent sized meals a day that end up being about 10-12 hours apart. And it all happened pretty naturally. I just wasn’t hungry for one or two of the *small meals* and extended the fast time between them. I find this way of eating so much more manageable and it’s given me a greater understanding of some of my *food issues.*

And then there are days when I’m just hungrier or seem to need more food. And you know what? I’m OK with that, and when my body’s telling me that’s what it wants/needs, I give it to myself.

That said, I don’t think a consistent one meal a day is enough, intermittent fasting aside. Plus there are simply too many delicious things out there to eat to have only one meal per day. I think probably a variety is best, following your body’s natural instincts while eating healthy foods (as opposed to your body’s instincts while living off of sugar.)

Food Is Love