Eating less often is really better

Yes, really, … we just have to eat less often! Yet we do not want to do it. It’s usual business, you have to run the engine, and often have to eat little bits, that’s best for your health. Uhm, well, no, not really…

There are a few important arguments for eating less often

1. First, every meal (or actually every eating moment) triggers a reaction from your immune system, an inflammatory response. This is normal because hostile bacteria can enter with every bite. The more often you eat, the harder it becomes for your immune system to fight the inflammatory response. Well, and before you know it you have a so-called low-grade inflammation in your body. And that is the beginning of many diseases, such as diabetes and other affluent diseases.
2. Secondly, we now know through the work of the Japanese Yoshinori Ohsumi that by eating less often, the body is able to replace or repair broken cell parts. This Japanese has even won the Nobel Prize for his theory of autophagy.

Sometimes cell organelles work differently than we want or just get damaged. Cells that starve start autophagy to recycle building materials. In this way, the cell is cleaned up. Broken cell parts (organelles) and even unwanted bacteria are thus removed. Autophagy therefore largely determines our cellular health. If we know how these mechanisms function and, above all, how we can influence them, we can make many cells optimally healthy again. That is the basis for a healthier body. Of course you will have to get as many nutrients as possible during the eating moments you have left. That is not possible if your meals consist of white bread with chocolate sprinkles. If you eat a complete diet (as nature intended), the need for snacks will disappear automatically.

I admit that not everyone can immediately switch from a menu of three meals and three snacks a day (consisting of the well-known egg cake, so yummy and fat free, sigh) to a diet of one or two meals a day. But that would still be ideal for your health. So, first start by omitting the snacks. If that doesn’t work right away, you can also start by choosing healthy snacks, such as a handful of nuts, some fruit, or vegetable snacks. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can slowly but surely replace the abundance in your life with occasional scarcity. And that does not mean that you should try to get through the day with 1300 kcal. You eat a normal amount of calories, but you divide them differently.

Time for a new approach

And yes, I know. This information is different and contradictory to what we have always been told. And yes, I know this is confusing, and I also realize that many people don’t know what to believe anymore. Just breathe, stay calm and be open for new information. New information is found every day, new studies are emerging that replace old insights. That’s called progressive insight, and yes, it can be confusing. And you know what, if the old ways still work for you, you don’t have to do anything. If we were all healthy on a diet with 6 eating moments and egg cakes, we could all continue to eat like this. But unfortunately, if only it were true. Diabetes is skyrocketing, the diseases of affluence are only getting worse. So, it’s time for a new approach.

Bron: Yvonne van Stigt, master in de klinische Psycho Neuro Immunologie