All you need to know about the new OMAD diet!
| Jul 12, 2019, 15:51 IST
It's no secret that every other day we hear of a new fad diet taking over the world by storm. From the keto diet to the paleo diet to the vegan diet, we've heard of them all. So, naturally, when the OMAD diet came out nobody blinked an eye until they heard what the full form stood for. The OMAD diet stands for 'One Meal A Day'. Yes, you read that right. In the Omad diet, you're supposed to fast for 23 hours and then eat during the remaining one hour. The rest of the 23 hours you're allowed to consume non-calorie beverages and during the hour that you're supposed to eat food you can consume any type of food you want.
“The research shows that just about any kind of IF will result in weight loss, though alternate day fasting [where you alternate between days of no eating and days of normal eating] led to intense hunger on fasting days,” said an expert. “That may be one upside to OMAD—at least you get to eat daily. Ultimately, research on IF hasn’t shown superior weight loss compared to standard calorie restriction,” she added.
But for those people who like to work out regularly, the expert says, “while most healthy people can likely survive a moderate workout while eating one meal a day, peak athletic performance is best fueled before and after workouts with the appropriate macro and micronutrients for performance, recovery, and muscle development. Bottom line: You can [try it], but it’s not ideal.”
“The best healthy eating pattern for any individual is a nutritionally balanced diet that is realistic for that individual to maintain for the long term,” she added. “For weight loss, it’s one strategy, but there are easier ways to healthfully lose weight. In addition, there just aren’t enough human randomized clinical trials to convince me to recommend this way of eating over a more reasonable approach,” she concluded.
“The research shows that just about any kind of IF will result in weight loss, though alternate day fasting [where you alternate between days of no eating and days of normal eating] led to intense hunger on fasting days,” said an expert. “That may be one upside to OMAD—at least you get to eat daily. Ultimately, research on IF hasn’t shown superior weight loss compared to standard calorie restriction,” she added.
But for those people who like to work out regularly, the expert says, “while most healthy people can likely survive a moderate workout while eating one meal a day, peak athletic performance is best fueled before and after workouts with the appropriate macro and micronutrients for performance, recovery, and muscle development. Bottom line: You can [try it], but it’s not ideal.”
“The best healthy eating pattern for any individual is a nutritionally balanced diet that is realistic for that individual to maintain for the long term,” she added. “For weight loss, it’s one strategy, but there are easier ways to healthfully lose weight. In addition, there just aren’t enough human randomized clinical trials to convince me to recommend this way of eating over a more reasonable approach,” she concluded.