Think before you decide to skip your next meal.

    People often miss meals because they get busy or are trying to lose weight. But how you skip meals, and the amount you eat at your next meal, can affect your overall health.

    The scientific data on skipping meals has been confusing. In some studies, fasting has resulted in measurable metabolic benefits for obese people, and in animal studies, intermittent feeding and fasting reduces the incidence of diabetes and improves certain indicators of cardiovascular health. Even so, several observational studies and short-term experiments have suggested an association between meal skipping and poor health.

    In recent months, two new studies may help explain how skipping meals affects health.

    The most recent study, published this month in the medical journal Metabolism, looked at what happens when people skip meals but end up eating just as much as they would in a normal day when they finally do sit down to a meal. The study, conducted by diabetes researchers at the National Institute on Aging, involved healthy, normal-weight men and women in their 40s. For two months, the study subjects ate three meals a day. For another eight-week period, they skipped two meals but ate the same number of calories in one evening meal, consumed between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

    The researchers found that skipping meals during the day and eating one large meal in the evening resulted in potentially risky metabolic changes. The meal skippers had elevated fasting glucose levels and a delayed insulin response — conditions that, if they persisted long term, could lead to diabetes.

    The study was notable because it followed another study earlier this year that found that skipping meals every other day could actually improve a patient’s health. In that study, published in March in Free Radical Biology & Medicine, overweight adults with mild asthma ate normal meals one day. This was followed by a day of severely restricted eating, when they ate less than 20 percent of their normal caloric intake, or about 400 or 500 calories a day — the equivalent of about one meal. Nine out of 10 study participants were able to stick to the eating plan.

    After following the alternate-day dieting pattern for two months, the dieters lost an average of 8 percent of their body weight, and their asthma-related symptoms also improved. They had lower cholesterol and triglycerides, “striking” reductions in markers of oxidative stress and increased levels of the antioxidant uric acid. Markers of inflammation were also significantly lower.

    The conclusion, say the authors of the more recent meal-skipping study, is that skipping meals as part of a controlled eating plan that results in lower calorie intake can result in better health. However, skipping meals during the day and then overeating at the evening meal results in harmful metabolic changes in the body.

    少吃一頓飯的后果與好處

    人們常常因為工作忙碌或努力減肥而錯過了吃飯。但你少吃一頓飯以及你下一頓的食入量將會影響你的整體健康。

    在你決定跳過你下一頓飯之前想清楚

    對于跳過正常膳食的科學數據一直讓人困惑。在一些研究中，空腹導致可衡量的代謝有益于極度肥胖的人，并且，在動物實驗中，間歇性喂養和禁食可降低糖尿病的發病率，提高某些心血管健康的指標。即便如此，一些觀察性研究和短期實驗仍暗示：經常不吃飯和健康狀況不佳存在聯系。

    近幾個月，兩項新研究也許有助于解釋經常不吃飯如何影響健康。

    這個月刊登在醫學雜志《Metabolism》的最新研究看當人們從不吃飯到最終坐下吃平時一樣多的份量與最終不吃飯之間會有什么變化。這項研究，由國家衰老研究所的糖尿病研究員提供，涉及健康、體重正常、40歲的的男性和女性。2個月以來，研究對象一日吃三餐。在另外的8個星期內，他們跳過兩餐，但在一個晚上吃了同樣數目的卡路里的一頓飯，下午4點到晚上八點之間消耗。

    研究人員發現，白天不吃飯而在傍晚狠狠吃一大餐會使新陳代謝變化產生潛在的風險。不吃飯一族有空腹血糖水平升高而胰島素反應延遲的狀況，如果他們長期堅持，可能會導致糖尿病。

    這項研究是引人注目的，因為它遵循今年早些時候的另一項研究，研究發現，每隔一天不吃飯實際上可以改善病人的健康。這項研究3月發表正在《Free Radical Biology & Medicine》中，其中提到有輕度哮喘且體重超重的成年人每天進行正常的膳食。其次是一天的嚴格限制飲食，當他們吃不到百分之二十的正常熱量攝取，或一天約400或500卡的熱量-大約相當于一餐。十分之九的參與研究的人能夠堅持飲食計劃。

    接著進行后候補天節食模式兩個月之后，節食者平均減掉的了他們身體重量8%的體重，他們的哮喘相關的癥狀也有所改善。降低了膽固醇和甘油三酯的水平， 驚人地削減了氧化應激標志和提高抗氧化劑尿酸的水平。炎癥標志物也大大地降低。

    最后，提一下最新研究不正常飲食作者的觀點，即不正常飲食是控制飲食計劃的一部分，因為低熱量攝入可能會導致更好的保健。然而，白天不吃飯然后晚餐吃過量會導致有害的代謝在體內的變化。