What Is The OMAD Diet? [7 Reasons To Consider Eating Just One Meal A Day]

What is the OMAD diet? “OMAD” stands for “one meal a day,” and is a form of intermittent fasting. If you’re trying to lose a few pounds, improve your cognitive function, or get your health back on track, consider eating the OMAD way. You can do this for as little or as long as you want, and the benefits are profound! Here are 7 reasons you should consider eating just one meal a day.

What Is The OMAD Diet?

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The OMAD diet is a form of intermittent fasting (IF) where you decrease your eating window to just one hour a day, followed by a 23-hour fast. This is a stricter form of IF, but not as extreme as fasting for 24 hours. Before you stop reading, let me say that OMAD is easier than it sounds, and the advantages you’ll gain are well worth the effort.

[Read More: Human Growth Hormone And Intermittent Fasting]

OMAD Benefits

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Following is a list of the many positive effects you’ll notice by eating just one meal a day.  Determine for yourself if the sacrifice is worth the reward.

1. Save Time And Money

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I want you to think about how much time you spend preparing meals. And that’s just the preparation, don’t forget about the spent thinking about food, buying it, cooking and eating it, and the inevitable clean up you can’t escape. Let’s face it, meal planning and preparation take a huge chunk of time out of each day. By eliminating two meals, think of the extra time you could spend exercising or developing a hobby. There’s no way around it, eating is enjoyable, but also a ton of work!

The price you pay for each meal adds up, with groceries being only a portion of what you spend.  If you eat out on a daily basis, not only will your health suffer, but your pocket book will, as well. If you eat out for lunch every day, and the cost is $10.00 for your meal, by the end of the month you would have paid a total of $200.00.

And that’s not counting evening meals or the price of food if you go to a movie. Do a split test by figuring out what you spend on food each week for the typical three-meals-a-day way of eating, also figuring in snacks, and what you would spend by eating only one meal a day. The difference will shock you. What would an extra $500.00 a month mean to you?!

2. Improve Digestion Naturally

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This is a big one. Think of the strain on your digestion system if you’re constantly eating throughout the day. Most people eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while snacking in between meals, and before bed. Their poor digestive systems never get a break. Add to that the fact that digestive capacity declines with age, and you’ve got a one-two punch that can lead to a downward spiral in health.

The importance of optimal digestion cannot be overstated due to the fact that adequate digestion and absorption of nutrients is critical for the body to function properly. Chronic indigestion and malabsorption lead to a number of deleterious effects in the body, none of them good.

Eating one meal a day gives the organs of digestion a much needed break. Your gall bladder, pancreas, small intestine, and stomach all deserve a rest, and you can provide this respite for them by fasting. As an added bonus, if you suffer from IBS, intermittent fasting will mitigate your symptoms.

3. Prevent Metabolic Syndrome And Diabetes

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All forms of intermittent fasting prevent metabolic syndrome and diabetes by reducing insulin levels and normalizing blood sugar. Blood pressure and inflammation both decrease with better blood-sugar and insulin control. No other therapy will improve the health of your arteries like intermittent fasting. High insulin levels are very destructive to arterial health, and increase blood pressure, both risk factors for heart disease.

Lipids, such as cholesterol and triglycerides decrease with fasting, further preventing heart disease.  Alzheimer’s, which is now referred to as Type III diabetes, can also be prevented by controlling insulin and blood sugar. Mood disturbances, including depression and anxiety, are often caused by blood-sugar imbalances. Regulating these levels naturally improves or alleviates these conditions.

[Read More: The 7 Stages Of Alzheimer’s]

Check out this book “The Complete Guide to the OMAD Diet” written by a doctor specifically for beginners to the OMAD way of eating

4. Stimulate Weight Loss And Improve Metabolism

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Weight loss is the most visible perk of OMAD and intermittent fasting in general. When insulin is reduced, fat can be burned for energy. A healthy body composition prevents obesity and diabetes, along with their associated risk factors.

You’ll not only look and feel better, but you won’t have to worry about regaining the weight, like you would if you’d lost it by cutting calories. Low-calorie diets lower metabolism, and most people, not only gain the weight back, but become even heavier in the long run. Say goodbye to yo-yo dieting for good by fasting instead of counting calories.

OMAD doesn’t lower metabolism due to the presence of human growth hormone, which preserves lean muscle. Compare this with low-calorie diets that don’t prevent muscle loss. By fasting, you train your body to burn fat rather than glucose. And guess where that fat is coming from? Your butt, hips, thighs, and stomach. Reducing body fat, not only makes your clothes fit better, it also reduces inflammation, which is the precursor to all chronic disease.

5. Slow Aging and Increase Longevity

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Autophagy is an amazing benefit of IF and OMAD. This process involves the recycling of damaged and diseased proteins and particles, using them to build new tissue. Autophagy is a defense mechanism, protecting the body against infectious microbes, malignancies, and degenerative diseases. You’ll not only feel better, you’ll also be less likely to catch what’s going around, while increasing your life span.

Omad improves memory, boosts cognitive function, enhances focus and concentration, while preventing dementia. These are all conditions of aging, and can be improved or prevented by fasting. Although it takes awhile, once you adapt to burning fat for energy, you won’t have that nagging hunger so typical of most diets. Eliminating extreme hunger and cravings make eating one meal a day much easier to follow, allowing you to enjoy the enormous benefits it offers.

6. Better Immunity

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Autophagy not only recycles damaged cells and proteins, it also recycles viruses, pathogens, fungi, and mold, taking a tremendous strain off the immune system. Without this added strain, the immune system can accomplish other vital functions, instead of focusing its resources on eliminating these immune-draining substances.

Improved immunity decreases the risk of cancer and other diseases, and the boost in human growth hormone further protects the body against infectious and chronic disease. Think of how amazing it would be to not catch every cold and flu this winter.

AUDIOBOOK: The OMAD Diet: How Intermittent Fasting with One Meal a Day Can Maximize Your Weight Loss Potential

7. Beautiful Skin

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When fasting, you’ll notice amazing improvements in how you look, particularly in your skin. Thank you autophagy and the other anti-aging effects of intermittent fasting. Autophagy detoxifies the skin, purifying and rejuvenating it, by turning junk proteins into beneficial amino acids the skin can then use to remain healthy. The result? Smoother, firmer, and younger-looking skin.

Better insulin and blood-sugar control prevent a host of negative effects that show up in the skin, such as glycation, inflammation, and aging. By eating less often you can delay those dreaded wrinkles, and the sagging and loss of elasticity that comes with the passage of time.

Eating Only One Meal A Day

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There is both beauty and challenge in eating just one meal a day. The beauty comes in the form of simplicity. Eating one meal a day isn’t easy in the beginning, but you can’t deny that it is indeed simple. The challenge is wrapping your mind around the idea of eating only once a day. It’s a paradigm shift for sure, and in the beginning you’ll be fighting hunger pangs. Keep in mind that it gets easier the more you do it.

Many diets involve special meals and keeping calories below a threshold. While you can eat more frequently throughout the day on these diets, meal preparation and planning can get tiring, and even confusing at times. It’s a lot to keep track of what you can and can’t eat. With OMAD, since you’re eating only one meal per day, you don’t need to factor in calories or specific foods.

Focus on eating a well-balanced meal that includes at least four ounces of high-quality protein, a couple servings of healthy fat, and lots of mineral and fiber-rich vegetables.This will keep you satiated and meet your nutritional needs. Eating inferior food and imbalanced meals won’t cut it while fasting. Nutritious food that is not processed is imperative.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep hydrated, and when your cravings seem too strong to control, put a pinch or two of sea salt on your tongue. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the salt’s ability to curb your urge to eat. Sea salt is full of minerals and electrolytes, and will buy you a couple hours when you’re thinking of caving. The goods news is you can drink coffee, tea, and sparkling water throughout the day without breaking your fast.

Key Points

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Can you see why so many people are raving about OMAD? You’ll not only lose weight and have beautiful skin, you’ll also have better digestion, prevent heart disease, improve your immune function, and live longer.

I know it seems really hard to eat just one meal a day, but I can tell you from personal experience that it’s not as bad as you think, and that’s coming from someone who used to not be able to skip breakfast. No kidding. The best part is when you start to see results, it will strengthen your resolve to keep at it. Give it a try today, you have nothing to lose but FAT!

Have you heard of the OMAD diet? Let me know in the comments:)

 

 

 
References:

(1) US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: A controlled trial of reduced meal frequency without caloric restriction in healthy, normal-weight, middle-aged adults

(2) Discover Magazine: What Science Says About the Weight-Loss Potential of ‘OMAD’ Fasting — The One-Meal-a-Day Diet

(3) infographic journal: The Omad Diet – Eating One Meal a Day

(4) Medical News Today: Should I eat just one meal a day?

(5) Diet Doctor: Is intermittent fasting the new norm?

(6) Harvard Health Publishing: Intermittent fasting: Surprising update

(7) US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: Impact of Reduced Meal Frequency Without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal Weight Middle-Aged Men and Women

(8) US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: Intermittent Fasting: Is the Wait Worth the Weight?

 

Disclaimer: This article is strictly for informational purposes only and is not intended to be medical advice. Please be diligent and always do your own research in regard to any material I present on this site. I claim no responsibility for any distress, whether it be physical or emotional, that may occur as a result of the information you obtain from my blog.