The "One Meal a Day" (OMAD) diet has emerged as a popular weight loss trend, promising rapid results and various health benefits. This article delves into the realities of OMAD, exploring its potential advantages, drawbacks, and long-term sustainability.
What is the OMAD Diet?
The OMAD diet is a form of intermittent fasting that involves consuming all your daily calories within a single 1-2 hour window, followed by a 22-23 hour fast. It's a strict regimen that manipulates how your body finds and uses fuel. When you eat in a more traditional pattern, your energy comes from the food that you eat.
How Does OMAD Work for Weight Loss?
OMAD primarily promotes weight loss by creating a calorie deficit. Eating just one meal a day reduces calorie intake compared to consuming multiple meals. When you take in carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into sugars. If you have more sugar in your blood than you need, a chemical called insulin will carry the extra into your fat cells. When you don’t eat for extended periods of time, your body produces less insulin. Your cells still need energy for fuel, so your fat cells release energy to compensate. For this to happen, however, you have to avoid eating for long enough that your insulin levels drop.
Advocates also believe the extended fasting period leads to physiological changes, potentially boosting metabolism by triggering ketosis, where the body burns stored fat for energy.
Potential Benefits of OMAD
While research on OMAD itself is limited, studies on intermittent fasting suggest several potential benefits:
Read also: One Meal a Day Keto
- Weight Loss: Intermittent fasting, in general, has proven to be an effective weight-loss method. Study participants who tried eating one meal a day ended up with less total body fat. The typical weight loss is 7 to 11 pounds over 10 weeks. The naturally restricted eating window makes it difficult to consume excess calories, creating an automatic calorie deficit.
- Improved Metabolism: A 6-hour period of eating followed by 18 hours of fasting improved blood sugar levels in adult men with prediabetes and obesity.
- Increased Alertness: Fasting during daylight hours may increase orexin-A, a chemical that makes you feel more alert.
- Simplified Meal Planning: With OMAD, there is no need to plan multiple meals throughout the day. OMAD eliminates decision fatigue around food choices and dramatically reduces time spent on meal prep.
Potential Risks and Drawbacks of OMAD
Despite the potential benefits, OMAD carries several risks and drawbacks:
- Nutritional Deficiencies: Meeting all micronutrient needs in a single meal proves extremely difficult. Not eating a balanced diet will result in nutritional deficiencies that can result in poor immune function, fatigue and a decrease in bone density, leading to osteoporosis.
- Increased Hunger: Eating one meal a day may increase ghrelin production, a hormone that makes you feel hungry.
- Cardiovascular Concerns: Eating one meal a day can increase your blood pressure and cholesterol.
- Blood Sugar Issues: Eating one meal late can cause your blood sugar to spike. Fasting can also increase the risk of extremely low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, in people who have Type 2 diabetes.
- Sustainability: Intermittent fasting regimens like OMAD have a dropout rate of up to 65%. It’s no easier to follow than other calorie restriction plans. Extreme diets - especially ones prescribing extended periods of fasting - aren’t enjoyable, leading to feelings of deprivation and social isolation during meal times.
- Unhealthy Relationship with Food: Restrictive eating can also lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, making it even harder to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
- Hormonal Imbalances in Women: Extended fasting can affect reproductive hormones. Hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause and menopause may make OMAD more challenging.
Who Should Avoid OMAD?
The OMAD diet is not suitable for everyone. Certain individuals should avoid this eating pattern:
- Children and young adults
- People who are hypoglycemic
- Individuals with diabetes
- People with obesity or metabolic disorders
- Women with a higher risk of osteoporosis
How to Implement OMAD Safely
If you're considering trying OMAD, it's crucial to approach it strategically and with caution:
- Consult a Healthcare Professional: Seek guidance from a doctor or registered dietitian before starting OMAD, especially if you have any underlying health conditions.
- Start Gradually: Jumping directly from three meals per day to OMAD often leads to failure.
- Prioritize Nutrient-Dense Foods: Your single meal should be balanced and nutrient-dense, including 100-130g lean protein, healthy fats (avocado, nuts, olive oil), fiber-rich vegetables (25-35g fiber target), complex carbohydrates, and diverse whole foods to meet micronutrient needs.
- Stay Hydrated: Many people forget to drink enough water during fasting hours.
- Monitor Your Progress: Use a journal or app to monitor energy levels, hunger patterns, and physical changes.
- Listen to Your Body: If OMAD causes severe negative effects on your health, discontinue the diet and opt for a more suitable approach.
OMAD and Muscle Building
Building muscle on OMAD is challenging but possible with strategic planning. You need adequate protein (100-130g), proper training stimulus (2-3 strength sessions weekly), and timing your workout before your eating window. However, muscle growth will be slower compared to traditional eating patterns.
The Importance of Protein Timing
Consuming 100-130g of protein in one sitting is difficult but achievable.
Read also: Combining Keto and OMAD
Realistic Expectations
Muscle growth will be slower compared to traditional eating patterns.
What to Drink During the Fasting Window
During your 22-23 hour fasting window, you can drink water, black coffee (no cream or sweeteners), plain tea (green, black, or herbal), sparkling water, and zero-calorie electrolyte supplements. Avoid any beverages with calories, including bulletproof coffee (butter and MCT oil break the fast), protein shakes, juice, smoothies, and bone broth.
Is OMAD a Sustainable Long-Term Solution?
In general, OMAD is not a sustainable long-term diet and should not be used as a primary method for weight loss.
Read also: Beginner's Guide to OMAD