First he came for your sunscreen and fluoride and now he’s coming for your breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Celebrity chef and paleo overlord, Pete Evans, has told his legion of followers they shouldn’t be eating three meals a day.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Evans has claimed the “whole notion of eating three meals a day” is not healthy.
He also said the concept of three meals a day was “created to help the multinational food industry stay in business by keeping the population craving carbs and not being able to maintain a healthy weight or to stay healthy”.
Instead of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, Evans has suggested skipping meals and fasting regularly as a cheap and easy method for losing weight.
Evans’ latest claims coincided with the introduction of fasting into his Paleo Way 10-week Program.
“Once you are fat adapted, you stop the hunger cravings for food, as you are supplying the body its key nutrients in the most natural way, which in turn makes this way of eating cheaper and quicker,” he said.
(In case you were wondering we asked the experts what fat adapted is because it sounded like a word Uncles make up over Christmas lunch. But it’s not. Fat adapted refers to reaching a state of ketosis – where your body doesn’t have enough glucose for energy – helped along by not eating carbs and perhaps fasting – so it starts burning fat instead.)
However, dietitian and nutritionist Susie Burrell, has warned against adopting such a restrictive diet regime.
“The thing with diet is that it’s not a one size fits all model, what works for some people may not work for others,” she told Mamamia.
“Some people like three meals a day, others need to eat more frequently or others may find eating via a fasting approach works best for them.”
If you want to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle, Burrell says you should follow a structured eating plan with regular meals to control appetite and energy, so you can avoid binge eating.
Although fasting regimes like the 5:2 diet do provide some benefits including weight loss and improvements in glucose levels and cholesterol, Burrell says they’re usually just not sustainable for the average person.
“For the average busy person, fasting is not sustainable or practical as they are working, rushing around and need the energy to focus and prevent the sugar highs and lows associated with fasting,” she said.
“The best diet is one that works for an individual and most people like and want to eat regularly so it is about striking a balance that works for you. It is not a simplistic one size fits all model.”
Burrell also believes we should be careful about who we take health advice from.
What do you think of Pete Evans’ fasting advice?
LISTEN: Rebecca and Robin talk about all things food and whether we can consider it our friend or foe.
Top Comments
I hate to agree with anything he says but...I have had great success on an eating plan that increase the fat and protein intake to reduce the need and craving for carbs. I'm not starving, in fact, after a few weeks of eating less I don't feel like eating more, which has helped my adhere to a portion-controlled way of eating. Doesn't mean I can't treat myself to an ice cream or enjoy Christmas Day, just that a regular day is more balanced and less based on strict eating times and more on eating when I feel my body needs it. I've never felt better, but that's not saying it would suit everyone.
Agree. I started recently on this way of eating. Two of my kids swim competitively and always carried a little bit of weight. Their father is diabetic and it was this that concerned me most of all. I am serving up protein for breakfast rather than cereal. My son is not actually hungry during the day. He eats some fresh fruit and drinks water. He finds 2 meals a day are enough.
54 years old, recovered from cirrhosis brought on by hepatitis C. Wake at 5, go to sleep at 10.30/11 pm, sleep all night uninterrupted.
Work all day, swim 2 miles 3 times a week after work or walk 6/7miles or do an hour of callisthenics.
I am fat adapted, eat 1 or 2 meals a day, never feel hungry.
No aches, no pains, no digestive issues, no midday sleepiness, no allergies, no health issues full stop.
So you can slate Pete all you like but giving up carbs, sugar and rubbish foods like cereal is the quickest way to good health for anyone.
And of course three meals a day is an invention, you think modern day hunter gatherers think they have to eat three times a day?
Allowing the food industry to become the accepted wisdom on healthy eating was one of the stupidest things the western world ever did.