Intermittent fasting, one of the most popular and promoted dietary techniques, can actually increase your risk of early death.
A study of 24,000 Americans over the age of 40 found that those who ate one meal a day were 30 percent more likely to die from any cause within 15 years than those who ate three.
Skipping breakfast was linked to a higher risk of dying from heart disease, while skipping lunch or breakfast appeared to increase the likelihood of all-cause mortality.
The results held even if people exercised, ate healthily and rarely smoked or drank alcohol, the researchers say.
They say that people who fast usually end up consuming a relatively large amount of food in one sitting, which over time can damage cells in the body.
The team cautions that it is still too early to say definitively that fasting played a role in the early deaths, as they cannot rule out other genetic and lifestyle factors.
Intermittent fasting, which means eating within a strict time frame or skipping meals altogether, became one of the most popular diet tools in the early 2010s.
A-list celebrities like Mark Wahlberg, Hugh Jackman, the Kardashians, and Jennifer Aniston say it helped them lose weight or detoxify their bodies.
Ironically, one of the top benefits cited by dieters is longevity. It had previously been linked to a lower risk of multiple diseases.
Intermittent fasting, one of the most popular and promoted diet techniques, may actually increase the risk of premature death (stock)
Jennifer Aniston (right) and Nicole Kidman (left) are two celebrities who have reportedly used intermittent fasting
The photo above is Mark Wahlberg’s daily routine, which involves fasting for 18 hours.
The latest study, conducted by researchers at the University of Tennessee, found that three meals a day was the sweet spot for a longer life.
But the research found that eating them too close together was also linked to an increased risk of early death.
Like their theory with fasting, the team believes that eating too much too fast puts a metabolic strain on the body.
Lead author of the new study, Professor Yangbo Sun, from the University of Tennessee, said: “At a time when intermittent fasting is widely promoted as a solution for weight loss, metabolic health and disease prevention, our study is relevant to the large segment of American adults who eat fewer than three meals a day.
“Our research revealed that people who eat just one meal a day are more likely to die than those who eat more meals a day.
“Among them, participants who skip breakfast are more likely to develop fatal cardiovascular disease, while those who skip lunch or dinner increase their risk of death from all causes.”
He added: “Based on these findings, we recommend eating at least two to three meals spread out throughout the day.”
In the study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Diabeteshis team analyzed data from 24,011 people age 40 and older from across the US.
They were already participants in a nationally representative survey that was conducted between 1999 and 2014 and asked about diet, general health, illnesses, and behaviors every two years. Forty percent of the participants ate fewer than three meals a day, on average.
Their responses to the survey were linked to their medical records. Overall, there were 4,175 deaths at the end of the study, including 878 caused by heart problems.
Compared with participants who ate three meals a day, eating just one meal was linked to a 30 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality and an 83 percent increased risk of death from heart disease.
People who skipped breakfast had a 40 percent increased risk of death from heart disease compared with those who didn’t, but there was no difference in all-cause mortality.
However, people who missed lunch or dinner were 12 to 16 percent more likely to die for any reason.
Meanwhile, people who ate three meals a day but had an average gap of less than four and a half hours between at least two of them had a 17 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality, compared with people who spaced their meals five hours or more apart.
Lead study author Dr. Wei Bao, an epidemiologist at the University of Iowa, said: “Our results are significant even after adjusting for dietary and lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity levels , energy consumption and diet quality) and food insecurity .
‘Our findings are based on observations drawn from public data and do not imply cause and effect. However, what we observe makes metabolic sense.
Dr. Bao explained that skipping meals generally means taking in a larger energy load at one time, which can add to the burden of glucose metabolism regulation and lead to further metabolic decline.
This may also explain the association between a shorter meal interval and mortality, since a shorter time between meals would result in a higher energy load in the given period.
Dr Bao added: “Our research provides much-needed evidence on the association between eating behaviors and mortality in the context of meal timing and daily prandial length.”