+ 2 Food Myths Part 2
Might as well pump out another eh?
- Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight
Oh I'll just skip breakfast. 700 less kcals will lower my total kcals which in turn will cause me to lose weight. Calorie balance= Calories in - Calories out right? Well that would be fine and dandy if our body were a calculator.
To start with skipping a meal is never recommended. Our body is designed to store as much energy as possible when food is abundant so that when food is scarce we won't die. Unfortunately our intestines don't seem to understand that food isn't scarce too often nowadays. When we skip a meal we regularly eat it sends our body a message. This makes our body go into save mode. Our energy levels decrease, our metabolism slows down, we seem to be much more comfortable in our chairs. This is because our body has no idea when we are going to get food next and with the meal skip it thinks food is scarce.
Another reason it's so bad is because of blood sugar falls and spikes. By skipping a meal you are depriving your body of carbohydrates which in turn lowers blood sugar. With lower blood sugar less insulin is required. Then after you eat again your blood sugar spikes from extremely low to extremely high. Insulin is then released and for those of you that don't know insulin is incredibly anabolic. But wait... This is a bodybuilding site. Anabolism means muscle gains right? Wrong. Anabolism refers to the state in which our body is creating larger molecules from smaller ones. While trying to gain muscle weight the state of anabolism might be a good thing, but when trying to lose weight anabolism is to be avoided (obviously preventing muscle catabolism is important, but through exercise and other things you can limit this). On a side note those vast insulin spikes also contribute to the onset of diabetes.
Skipping meals also tends to make us hungrier. We've all felt it, that burning desire in our gut. Feed me it says. With that hunger comes the desire to eat and not just a little bit. People tend to eat faster when they're hungry and the faster you eat the more you are able to eat. This is because our bodies send a delayed message as to when we are full. The faster you eat the more you are able to put in your stomach before that single reaches you. Besides just eating more, when you get hungry your desire to eat unhealthy rises as well. That hunger makes us crave more calorically dense substances which we try and avoid.
Eating less makes our bodies less nourished nutrient wise. Ever take a bunch of vitamin C and piss real dark yellow? Well that's because our body doesn't store quite a few micronutrients for very long. These micronutrients are essential in keeping our bodies functioning properly. While you might not notice the effects going on in your body while you lack these substances your body certainly does. Micronutrients play a vital role in controlling cholesterol, brain function, energy levels, and much much more. There's a reason there is a suggested daily value for them.
So what do we do? Instead of skipping a meal eat smaller meals more frequently. That way you can still lower your total calories while keeping a healthy level of nutrients and while keeping your metabolism running strong.
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whatever classes you're taking, ask for a refund. I'm not citing my links in any standard format.
Doesn't happen by skipping a meal. Or two. Or three. In fact, metabolic rate doesn't drop for a good 2.5 days or so. Additionally, 3 vs 6 meals generated no extra fat loss in the 2nd study being mentioned.
Ref: Zauner et al. 2000 "Resting energy expenditure in short-term starvation is increased as a result of an increase in serum norepinephrine." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Cameron et al. "Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss in subjects who were prescribed an 8-week equi-energetic energy-restricted diet." 2010
Incorrect. Blood glucose levels doesn't fall from fasting. Its tightly controlled at a set level. Lowered glucose levels (which again won't happen by skipping a meal...or two...) will be upregulated by glucagon release), as well as the increase in short terms of concentrations of catecholamines, cortisol, etc, resulting from a fast/
Ref: any undergrad book on human biochemistry/metabolism
Irrelevant. Only thing that matters is the AUC over a certain time. The 'spike' will be balanced out by the troughs created by a fasted state. it works akin to this: http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Lipo...
Ref: any book on biochem
Wrong again. Meal frequency/infrequency not only has no effect on satiety (actually, 3 meals a day seems to work BETTER than 6), it has none on body composition, either.
Ref: Leidy et al "The influence of higher protein intake and greater eating frequency on appetite control in overweight and obese men." 2010.
I'm sure this statement is trying to make a point, but I don't see what, so I'll make one for it...Macronutrients we ingest, if not used up, will be excreted by the body. Following this logic, skipping a meal or two or whatever will cause nutritiional deficiencies
This is hilariously false. It takes MUCH longer than 5 hrs to digest just one mixed meal.
Ref: Capaldo B et al "Splanchnic and leg substrate exchange after ingestion of a natural mixed meal in humans." 1999
aaand.. putting on flamesuit.
Supernova283We're talking about losing weight here. We're already eating a caloric deficit. Missing a meal while calorically restricted is going to slow your metabolism through lack of intermediary metabolites.
I'm sorry tell that to diabetics. I've personally measured my blood glucose levels after a fast and they are much lower than if I eat regularly.
The anabolic nature of insulin isn't on par to the catabolic nature of reduced levels. When your insulin levels spike you go into a highly anabolic state. In a period of fast such as sleep you don't go into a highly catabolic state in fact a lot of anabolism happens at night time.
Satiety is unmeasurable therefore your statement can't be proved. I'm going by personal and anecdotal experience. I think you'll have a hard time convincing people that they are more satisfied on three large meals a day than six smaller ones. Also the fact that I didn't even mention number of meals per day kind of makes your text pointless anyway.
No it takes a long time to digest certain parts of your meal. Leaving other parts already digested and even then when most people skip a meal they skip breakfast. Assuming 8 hours of sleep and 3 meals a day that's a full 12 hours where you have no additional food put in your body.
quick reply, skimmed over other points. Pathlogical conditions CANNOT be compared to normal people. High protein diets are shit for people with kidney conditions. Doesn't mean its shit for normal people. etc.
Supernova283Okay well I'm not a diabetic, yet if I don't eat breakfast in the morning I'll get low blood sugar.
I got a blood glucose meter to stay safe while taking HGH and I use it sometimes when I'm curious to see what my levels are at and they're significantly lower when I haven't eaten carbohydrates in as little as 4 hours.
good post bro, i think this is where most ppl who are trying to lose weight mess up, ppl tell me all the time "i barely eat anything, why am i not losing weight?" and when i tell them eat six times a day they look at me like im crazy