Can you only eat once a day? In theory there is a diet that provides this, the so-called OMAD Diet, One Meal a Day, literally “One meal a day”: it is a type of intermittent fasting that involves an hour of eating and 23 hours of fasting. A very extreme diet, followed with the aim of losing weight, but which has many contraindications.
Eating only once a day can make sense for calorie control and weight loss, but it remains something that I personally advise against, there are some very serious ‘cons’: during the day you can have glycemic imbalances that lead to warning a drop in blood sugar due to long fasting; there is an increase in stress and anxiety; the stomach, remaining empty, increases the risk of acidity, reflux and gastritis. It also increases the risk of developing poor eating habits and binge eating, with a ‘rebound effect’ which could also lead to eating disorders.
Eating once a day and all in one hour makes it necessary to be very precise. You must have studied the meal you consume perfectly because it must be complete and reach your daily calorie and protein quota in one go. You need to eat a lot and in a small space, in order to have a good energy and nutrient balance throughout the day. Can the body handle it? Basically it can happen. Let’s think for example of Christmas lunch, after which it is difficult to have dinner and perhaps not have breakfast first, but we are talking about something that happens once a year. To sustain this type of diet for longer you need to be very prepared because the risk is having a hunger-induced hypocalorie diet. This is unlikely to be a good practice, because the risk of incurring shortages is very high.
This type of diet leads to losing the pleasure of eating, reducing it only to a “duty” linked to diets, calories and weight. To achieve the right caloric intake with a single meal, you risk making poor nutritional choices by consuming excessively high-calorie foods. It is always recommended to distribute calories throughout the day, also to be able to live a healthy diet, eating well and in the right quantities. Food must still remain a moment of pleasure, and must not just be linked to diets, calories and weight.
