Key message: Skipping meals is counterproductive and results in more fat gain.
Action point: Weight loss, if attempted, should be achieved by a diet involving small, regular meals spread evenly throughout an entire day.
In today’s busy world, when our ‘plates are too full’, many of us respond by skipping meals. While this may seem like a way to lose weight, think again.
According to a new study, this may backfire and actually increase belly fat.
A research team from the Ohio State University in collaboration with Yale researchers attempted to understand the impact different eating schedules had on mice.
Some of the mice were allowed to nibble throughout the day, while others were put on a restricted diet where they were fed just once every 24 hours.
The study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, found that the dieting mice tended to gorge their daily allotment of food all at once – the equivalent of fasting most of the day and then binging on a big meal.
The results showed that the mice included in the group that only received their food once every 24 hours, in a single meal, put on more fat in their abdomens. They also developed insulin resistance – an indicator of prediabetes.
What’s more, the gorging behaviour developed by the mice on the restrictive diets did not end once they began receiving proper amounts of calories.
The yo-yo effect
While those on the restricted eating plan initially lost weight, they gained it back when more calories were restored to their diets. This is a pattern that many human dieters will find all too familiar.
Weight cycling – or the yo-yo effect – is the repeated loss and regain of body weight. It has been shown to have harmful effects on your health.
Low-calorie diet and restricting diets do, initially, offer results. The dieter begins by shedding some weight (most likely water weight), only to gain the weight back when returning to normal eating habits.
While this study did not test the effects of fasting and gorging on human health, the researchers say there’s reason to believe we’d see similar results.
Skipping meals to save calories “sets your body up for larger fluctuations in insulin and glucose and could be setting you up for more fat gain instead of fat loss”, according to the researchers.
In humans, gaining fat around the abdomen has been linked to a range of serious health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and metabolic.
References:
1. Kliewer, K L, Ke, J Y, et al (2014) Short-term food restriction followed by controlled refeeding promotes gorging behavior, enhances fat deposition, and diminishes insulin sensitivity in mice. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2015.01.010
Kat Boehringer
Freelance journalist and editor
Kat Boehringer specialises in health communications including health writing, health promotions, and social media management. In her spare time she works as a massage therapist and aspiring novelist. Connect with her at LinkedIn.
