Shapiro also advises that people living with diabetes who are taking insulin should not follow this diet, as OMAD can affect blood sugar levels. In general, people with diabetes need to eat balanced meals regularly throughout the day, adds Moskovitz.

Finally, if you often have gastrointestinal GI issues like bloating or an upset stomach, OMAD may not be a good fit for you. This diet requires you to eat a lot of food at one time, which may cause GI discomfort. If you are interested in trying OMAD but have not yet tried other types of IF, start slowly, suggests Shapiro.

The single meal you eat on OMAD may contain anywhere from 1, to 2, calories or more, depending on your body weight, size, and health goals, says Moskovitz. Breakfast Oatmeal with berries and walnuts.

Lunch Leafy greens topped with quinoa , roasted vegetables, avocado , and chickpeas and drizzled with a vinaigrette. Dessert Dark chocolate. However, emerging research on IF provides some clues about the potential benefits of this type of diet. However, there are important caveats to these conclusions.

The authors point out that there are no large, randomized controlled trials that look at how IF patterns affect cardiovascular disease. Moskovitz advises that you do not need to fast to garner these types of health benefits.

If you are going to start OMAD, she recommends having a blood test taken before starting and then again three months later, which will provide a personalized picture of how your body is responding.

If done correctly, you may lose weight on OMAD. As noted, individuals who are pregnant or nursing, under 18, take insulin to manage diabetes, have a past eating disorder , or take food-dependent medication should not follow OMAD. If you have diabetes, Moskovitz advises speaking with your doctor before starting OMAD, as one large meal per day may lead to an unhealthy blood sugar spike.

While, anecdotally, some people note that they have better gastrointestinal function on OMAD, others notice the exact opposite. In the time after eating this supersized meal, you may not feel well.

Also, you may find that your hunger level can get out of control as you wait to eat your one daily meal. That, in itself, can lead to overeating and cravings for less healthy foods during your meal. Moreover, you may assume you can eat whatever you want in this one meal or eating window.

Learn More About Other Types of IF. Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. Insulin is a hormone that is produced and secreted by the pancreas in response to an increase in blood sugar.

The body senses a problem and calls out for more insulin. However, insulin can increase hunger. The more insulin that you have circulating in your body at any given time, the greater the chance that you will have an insatiable appetite.

Therefore, the weight loss effects of the OMAD diet are two-fold: not only does eating one meal a day typically reduce caloric intake by default because you are not grazing or consuming calories over numerous hours, but it can also help control appetite by decreasing insulin levels.

Gomer told us the primary drawbacks of the OMAD diet are that it can potentially lead to binge eating or overeating and that it may be difficult to get in all of your nutritional needs. Because people wait the entire day to eat and only have one opportunity to enjoy food, for some, this can psychologically trigger the desire to consume as much food as fast as you can, often at the detriment of making wise food choices.

Furthermore, the OMAD diet is typically not recommended for athletes or people who exercise vigorously or for longer workouts because it is not usually possible to fuel your body appropriately before or after your workout.

Gomer said that, ultimately, the OMAD is too restrictive all around and not generally a sound approach to healthy eating.

Furthermore, Gomer believes the OMAD diet is not optimal for health because it usually does not result in lasting weight loss, and it may even cause metabolic damage if followed for an extended period of time. Finally, one additional drawback of the OMAD diet is simply feeling very hungry and having low energy most of the day due to infrequent eating.

In terms of the timing and frequency of eating, Gomer suggests limiting snacks and just going for three meals a day if something like the OMAD diet is appealing to you for insulin reasons. Finally, she suggests working with a registered dietitian and a nutritionist who can help support you with your diet and health goals and tailor an individual eating plan that makes sense for your body and your life.

The key is to gradually and slowly start eating more healthfully by eliminating processed foods and sugars. three meals per day in a randomized crossover study. Participants consumed all the calories needed for a stable weight in either three meals breakfast, lunch and dinner or one meal per day between and for 11 days per study period.

Conclusion: A single meal per day in the evening lowers body weight and adapts metabolic flexibility during exercise via increased fat oxidation whereas physical performance was not affected.

Gomer said that, ultimately, the OMAD is too restrictive all around and not generally a sound approach to healthy eating. Furthermore, Gomer believes the OMAD diet is not optimal for health because it usually does not result in lasting weight loss, and it may even cause metabolic damage if followed for an extended period of time.

Finally, one additional drawback of the OMAD diet is simply feeling very hungry and having low energy most of the day due to infrequent eating. In terms of the timing and frequency of eating, Gomer suggests limiting snacks and just going for three meals a day if something like the OMAD diet is appealing to you for insulin reasons.

Finally, she suggests working with a registered dietitian and a nutritionist who can help support you with your diet and health goals and tailor an individual eating plan that makes sense for your body and your life. The key is to gradually and slowly start eating more healthfully by eliminating processed foods and sugars.

Suppose you make a lot of dishes with ground beef. In that case, you know that this conveniently shrinkwrapped ingredient can come with one very annoying risk - crumbly, can't-reach-for-the-water-fast-enough, completely unappetizing dryness.

Of course, many of us - thanks to knowledgable mothers and grandmothers - grew up armed, knowing this risk, prepared to tackle it head-on in our most beloved ground beef dishes. And while you, too, may know the secret to keeping your meatloaf, meatballs, or even burgers from drying out, you may not know that this technique has a name.

It's called a panade. A panade puh-NOD is simply a pasted mixture of bread and liquid that's added to ground beef recipes like meatloaf or meatballs to make them moist and tender. Most often made of humble white bread and milk, this paste is the absolute best way to guarantee your ground beef dishes stay tender and moist instead of turning to flavorless meat bricks in your marinara sauce.

How does a panade work? Another study in men with prediabetes the stage before type 2 diabetes found that IF improved blood pressure, oxidative stress not having enough antioxidants in the body to get rid of unstable molecules called free radicals , and insulin sensitivity when cells effectively use glucose to reduce blood sugar.

A review of studies concluded that IF may improve both blood pressure and cholesterol levels. If you are at risk for or have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new diet, including IF or the OMAD diet.

Eating an entire day's worth of food all within one meal in an hour can cause blood sugar glucose levels to rise significantly after eating. Following that blood sugar spike with fasting for 23 hours can then lead blood sugar levels to drop and crash or go too low.

Low blood sugar levels hypoglycemia appear to be the most severe acute immediate, short-term side effects of IF. One study investigated IF in people with diabetes during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar in which followers fast.

Researchers identified hypoglycemia events during periods of IF, particularly in people who also used blood glucose—lowering medications, such as insulin.

An older randomized controlled trial found that people who ate one meal per day had higher morning fasting blood sugar levels, as well as greater and more sustained rises in blood glucose levels compared with people who ate three meals per day. People who ate one meal per day also experienced a delayed insulin response during an oral glucose tolerance test.

However, despite these risks, some studies show IF being beneficial in regard to blood glucose levels. A randomized controlled trial found that IF resulted in significant reductions in blood glucose. Another study in men participating in IF during Ramadan found that IF had no significant change in fasting blood glucose levels but did improve insulin sensitivity.

A review and meta-analysis of studies concluded that IF may improve blood sugar levels in people with impaired blood sugar metabolism. Always talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new diet, especially if you are at risk for or have a chronic condition such as diabetes.

OMAD one meal a day is a severe form of intermittent fasting IF where you fast for 23 hours a day and are allowed to eat whatever and however much you want during a one-hour time frame. There is not a lot of quality research on the OMAD diet specifically. However, there is much research on the health effects of IF in general.

IF may help you burn fat, be more alert, improve metabolism, and aid in weight loss or weight management. Results are mixed on whether IF is beneficial for blood pressure or cholesterol.

IF may pose a risk to people with diabetes, especially those who take insulin or other glucose-lowering medications. People with other health conditions may be at risk when trying IF and OMAD as well, including those with digestive conditions, a history of eating disorders, or who are pregnant or nursing.

National Library of Medicine. Meessen ECE, Andresen H, van Barneveld T, et al. Differential effects of one meal per day in the evening on metabolic health and physical performance in lean individuals.

Front Physiol. Stote KS, Baer DJ, Spears K, et al. A controlled trial of reduced meal frequency without caloric restriction in healthy, normal-weight, middle-aged adults. Am J Clin Nutr. Vasim I, Majeed CN, DeBoer MD.

Intermittent fasting and metabolic health. Lettieri-Barbato D, Cannata SM, Casagrande V, Ciriolo MR, Aquilano K. Time-controlled fasting prevents aging-like mitochondrial changes induced by persistent dietary fat overload in skeletal muscle.

PLoS One. Almeneessier AS, Alzoghaibi M, BaHammam AA, et al. The effects of diurnal intermittent fasting on the wake-promoting neurotransmitter orexin-A. Ann Thorac Med.

Sleep Foundation. Why intermittent fasting can lead to better sleep. Harris L, Hamilton S, Azevedo LB, et al. Intermittent fasting interventions for treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. Kahleova H, Lloren JI, Mashchak A, Hill M, Fraser GE. Meal frequency and timing are associated with changes in body mass index in adventist health study 2. J Nutr. Belinova L, Kahleova H, Malinska H, et al. The effect of meal frequency in a reduced-energy regimen on the gastrointestinal and appetite hormones in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomised crossover study.

American Academy of Family Physicians. Vitamins and minerals: how to get what you need. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Intermittent fasting: what is it, and how does it work? Ganson KT, Cuccolo K, Hallward L, Nagata JM. Intermittent fasting: describing engagement and associations with eating disorder behaviors and psychopathology among Canadian adolescents and young adults.

Eating Behaviors. Healthdirect Australia. Intermittent fasting can improve insulin resistance and help normalize hormone levels and cycle regularity in women with PCOS 2.

Fights the effects of aging. Fasting has been shown to reduce the effects of aging upon the brain and body, and protect against certain neurological diseases 3. Weight loss.

Improved energy and mental clarity. Fasting activates a specialized protein called BDNF within the brain that protects neurons and enhances focus 4. Interestingly, some people also report an improvement in gastrointestinal health issues as well. This makes sense when you consider that allowing the gut to rest can provide an opportunity for it to heal.

The main concern with eating just one meal per day is that it can be hard on the body. For middle aged adults, and women in particular, if you experience significant weight loss you can also generally expect at least some loss in muscle mass.

For women, lean muscle is like gold— and you should always protect it. This means making sure you consume enough protein and stay active.

Calorie restriction can also be a problem for the adrenal glands if practiced in the long-term. Curb cravings and improve digestion with daily Belly Fix. This type is the easiest for beginners and the most versatile.

Useful while traveling or to recover from an upset stomach. Ultimately, you should customize your fasting protocol to be the most effective for you. Any type of intermittent fast is just one tool in your pocket to mitigate the effects of weight gain, and improve your overall health.

Experts often recommend to allow your fasting schedule to change with the seasons, such as shifting your eating window with the daylight i. later in the summer, earlier in the winter. Listen to your body during any fast to experience the success with losing weight and better metabolic health.

OMAD is a very effective way for losing weight quickly, and with few if any negative side effects.