What is One Meal a Day (OMAD)? Is it harmful?

 The OMAD diet, which means eating only one meal a day, is one of the most talked about and practiced dietary programs lately! We're sure you have friends who also eat only one meal a day. So how is OMAD done? 

What to eat on the OMAD diet, and is eating only one meal a day healthy? We explain when to eat one meal a day and which foods to focus on. 

What is OMAD?

How does the OMAD diet work?

The One Meal a Day (OMAD) diet, in its simplest terms, means fasting for 23 hours a day and eating only one meal. On the OMAD diet, you can eat almost anything: hamburgers, french fries, grilled vegetables, greens, and whole grains. 

The goal of the OMAD diet is to restrict calorie intake throughout the day, allowing you to eat whatever you want in a single meal and still look fit. With this one-meal-a-day diet, water and unsweetened coffee and tea are allowed throughout the day, but otherwise the kitchen is closed for the entire day.

Are the OMAD diet and intermittent fasting the same thing?

One-meal-a-day diet (OMAD) can be considered stricter and more challenging than intermittent fasting. While OMAD involves fasting for 23 hours, intermittent fasting allows for meals every 4-8 hours. In contrast, dinner is not included in OMAD for intermittent fasting. 

How does the OMAD diet work?

OMAD nutrition, like other intermittent fasting diets, works by taking in and using the fuel the body needs. In classic nutrition, we get our energy from the food we eat. When we consume carbohydrates, our body breaks them down into sugars. If there is more sugar in our blood than we need, a chemical called insulin carries the excess to fat cells.

However, when we don't eat for extended periods, the body produces less insulin. Our cells need energy for fuel, and fat cells release energy to compensate. Those following the OMAD diet aim to lower insulin levels and promote fat burning by abstaining from food for extended periods. 

Benefits of OMAD Nutrition

Those following the OMAD diet feel more refreshed and energetic. When you don't eat anything during the day, your body releases a chemical called orexin-A, which helps you feel more alert.

Eating only one meal a day and fasting in the evening can also help you look fitter and stay slimmer. People who fast at night and eat more in the morning tend to lose more weight than those who eat more at dinner.

Following an OMAD diet can help you burn fat. Researchers say that those who eat only one meal a day show less total body fat at the end of the diet, and no significant weight loss occurs.

OMAD (Oppositional Deficiency) Dietary Harms

OMAD (Intermittent Fasting) is a very strict method. There is no definitive evidence that eating only one meal a day is effective for weight control. Maintaining an OMAD diet can be challenging; 65% of those who follow intermittent fasting diets like OMAD discontinue it after a short time. 

The OMAD diet might make you hungrier because when you eat one meal a day instead of three, your body produces more ghrelin, which tends to make you hungrier. 

The OMAD diet is not recommended for diabetics. If eating only one meal a day makes you feel tired and hungry, and lowers your blood pressure, we strongly recommend consulting a qualified dietitian