Eating three meals is an ancient custom in human history, and intermittent fasting offers a new alternative to this traditional way of eating. Intermittent fasting may have positive effects such as activating longevity genes, controlling weight, and preventing disease, but there is a lack of long-term data and caution for specific populations.
“Eat three meals a day to get your energy up,” they say. The idea is that you need to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner to feel energized throughout the day. Eating all three meals is something we take for granted in the modern world. But how did we get to this point of eating all three meals? Think about wild animals. Wild animals don’t have regular meals. Plains game animals often go days without eating after an unsuccessful hunt, and herbivores spend most of the day eating. Early humans probably ate just as irregularly as wild animals. In fact, it wasn’t long before humans began eating three meals a day. Even in the East, the word “lunch” appeared in the 15th century. Back then, people ate two main meals, breakfast and dinner, and lunch was a quick snack, much like today’s snacks. In the West, it was only in the 20th century that the idea of eating three meals a day became a national policy and spread around the world, meaning that humans have been eating three meals a day for less than 100 years.
So, is it best to eat three meals a day? A newer eating pattern, intermittent fasting, argues that it is not. Intermittent fasting involves skipping a few meals periodically from the traditional three meals a day. There are several different patterns of intermittent fasting, the most widely recognized being the 16:8 method and the 5:2 method. The 16:8 method involves eating freely for eight hours a day and fasting for the other 16 hours. The 5:2 method involves eating a normal diet for five days of the week and only one meal per day for two days. So what exactly does intermittent fasting do?
People generally believe that eating three meals a day is necessary to feel energized. However, intermittent fasting has scientific evidence to refute this idea. Scientists point to a longevity gene called Sirtuin and the hormone IGF-1 as the main factors that explain the effectiveness of intermittent fasting. When we feel hungry, the Sirtuin gene is activated and the IGF-1 hormone is decreased, a process that repairs damaged cells. IGF-1 hormone is essential during growth, but after growth ends, it causes aging and cancer. In fact, the effectiveness of intermittent fasting has been linked to the fact that dwarfism patients who lack the hormone IGF-1 are less likely to develop cancer or age-related diseases.
Intermittent fasting is also excellent for weight control. This isn“t just because you”re consuming fewer calories, but because it changes the way your body uses energy. Normally, the body uses glucose as its main source of energy, but during fasting, insulin levels are lowered and the body begins to break down fat as a source of energy. This is similar to the way that fat starts to break down after 10 minutes of aerobic exercise. For most people, fasting is enough to get the benefits of exercise. However, an excessive increase in fat in the blood can have adverse health effects, so the 16:8 and 5:2 methods are designed to optimize these effects and side effects.
Also, during fasting, your digestive system will rest and damaged cells will have time to regenerate. This also prevents the brain from aging, which can help prevent dementia. There are also studies that show an increase in intelligence while fasting, and reports that weight loss helps prevent adult diseases.
However, it can be dangerous to try intermittent fasting based on its benefits alone. Because intermittent fasting has been around for so long, there is a lack of long-term data. While experiments in rats have shown a 40% increase in lifespan and improvements in several diseases, there are not enough studies to see the same results in humans. Adolescents, pregnant women, diabetics, and people with eating disorders should avoid intermittent fasting. There is also some research that suggests fasting can decrease reproductive function, so it’s best to avoid crash dieting.
So how do we balance three meals a day with intermittent fasting? It’s true that humans became physically healthier when we started eating three meals a day, so there are some concerns that intermittent fasting could lead to physical degeneration. However, this shouldn’t be the only reason why intermittent fasting is viewed negatively. There are many different methods out there, and it”s important to be flexible and adapt to your situation. Intermittent fasting is a great option for flexibility in your diet.
The goal of intermittent fasting is not to force yourself to fast. In fact, some people who practice intermittent fasting enjoy eating three meals when they feel healthy. They just want to show that it’s okay to skip meals from time to time. “Poverty in the midst of plenty!” is a phrase that economist Keynes used to describe the economic situation in modern industrialized countries, but it can also be applied to the state of our bodies. Our bodies already receive enough of the nutrients they need, but they’re not being utilized properly, and they’re piling up everywhere. If you’re not hungry, you don’t have to eat. Give your body time to organize itself. And if there“s something you want to eat, don”t worry about it. This is what intermittent fasting is all about.
