There was an interesting article out recently by Ari LeVaux about eating. He wrote that the timing of meals, when you eat, can be as important as what you eat or how much.
The advice to have five or six small meals daily has become common in recent years. This keeps the metabolism revved up. However, there is very little evidence that this is good for our bodies. Usually, those extra meals are energy bars or snack mixes and other high-glycemic-load processed snacks. Also, many people use this many-small-meals philosophy to eat all the time – in cars, while walking, on the job, everywhere.
The new premise is called IF, intermittent fasting. The idea is to give our bodies 12 to 16 hours of no food. Fasting periods accelerate the cleaning out of waste and boost activity and growth of certain cells, which increases rats’ life spans by 20 percent, decreases cardiovascular, cancer and diabetes disease risk, improves cognitive function and protects against some effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Other benefits include lowered blood pressure, improved recovery time from stroke, lowered cholesterol and reduced inflammation. Wow!
Variations are endless: skip breakfast, skip dinner, fast all day every other day, every third day, once per week, etc.
A study in 2012 (Cell Metabolism) looked at two groups of mice. Both consumed the same number of calories worth of the same diet. One group ate whenever it wanted and the other was allowed to eat only during an eight-hour daily span. The mice that ate at random grew fatter, exhibited higher blood sugars and showed decreased insulin sensitivity, decreased motor skills and more fatty deposits on their livers.
I am not at all recommending that children eat only during an eight-hour window. I am simply looking at how often we/they do eat. I have spent time with families that pack up loads of snacks for the kids no matter where they go – to the park, to the movies, to and from school, to the mall, wherever. There are cheeses and crackers, fruits, carrots and dips, juice boxes, etc. Kids are eating all day long! It’s almost like parents fear for their children to ever be hungry. What’s wrong with being a bit hungry? Is it possible we use snack foods to calm children and distract them from being bored or uncomfortable?
As children growing up, my brothers and I had three meals per day, that’s it. We didn’t have snacks all day; the snack industry had not come alive yet. Perhaps I’m dating myself, but could this constant eating all day be part of the reason obesity is a fairly new condition, not seen as much in the aging population?
If we and our children eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and then nothing more until the next morning, it would give us about 12 continuous hours or so to empty out our systems, boost that cell growth, clean us out and protect us a bit more from disease. Not eating between meals could possibly give us some mini-cleanses during the day.
In addition, this may set up eating patterns for our children that lead to healthier lifestyles for them the rest of their days.
Martha McClellan has been an early care child educator, director and administrator for 36 years. She currently has an early childhood consulting business, supporting child care centers and families. Reach her at mmm@bresnan.net.
