Guest guest Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 We need more info to answer your questions. How old are you? How tall are you? How much do you weigh? Are you generally healthy? What exactly are your meals like? Give us a typical day’s food afa what you are eating. Do you use any of the recommended tools in our files (fitday, cron-o-meter. Walford’s software etc?) In general it doesn’t matter how/when/ how many meals you eat throughout the day. But less than 1200 or so cal a day is slipping into anorexic mode and is not recommended. Definitely not below 1000 cal. Have you read Walford and our files for advice on this? That’s a requirement here and will keep you on the right track. From: hideousreprisal <hideousreprisal@...> Reply-< > Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:19:07 -0000 < > Subject: [ ] Opinions on 3 issues Can I have your opinions on some things? I like to eat 2 large meals a day, instead of 3 meals with snacks. What are your opinions on this? I find it easier to 'get it over with' with my eating rather than taking out time out of my day, throughout the entire day, just to eat! I've read a lot of contradictory evidence about eating spaced out meals and whether or not it is better to eat the 3 + snacks, I have my own opinions but I'd like to know what yours are. Secondly, I get all my necessary nutrition (protein, fat, calcium, fiber, etc) but don't eat as many carbs as is proportionally recommended. I really don't know what to think when it comes to studies on carbs and insulin and glucose, etc. I get all my fiber and then some, avoid all unnecessary sugar, and the carbs I do eat are all healthy (whole wheat bread, unsweetened oatmeal, whole grain rice); do you think it's a big deal or not? Lastly I have a question about 'starvation mode.' Over and over again I keep reading that anything below 1200 calories a day for a human is basically a starvation diet. But, I am as small as they get, and my bmr is 1200, the minimum. Would it be safe to go below this number if I can get all the necessary nutrients at a lower level? Because if I can't, the best I could do is only 20- 25% restriction and I'd like to do a little more, but obviously don't want to put my body in danger. So basically is my low bmr a setback to partaking in restriction, or is it a flexible guideline? Please and thank you to all who read and take the time to give me your thoughts on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 27, 2008 Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 Hi Hid: You asked for opinions (lol) here are mine: Point 1: CR is 80+% of all of it. The rest is detail, but important detail sometimes. Point 2: Meal frequency is one of the details. One serious study found people eating just one meal a day have marginally worse biomarkers than those eating three meals a day, with the same total caloric intake. But the mice fed CR one meal a day, only Monday, Wednesday and Friday live 40% longer than the control group. So it does seem that meal frequency is a detail. Point 3: Jeff has posted studies here more than once which show that high complex carb diets do NOT cause problems with high glucose or insulin. Indeed the reverse. According to those studies it is a myth that carbs cause glucose problems, and I believe the studies. CR takes care of blood glucose and insulin - take a look at the biomarkers of the CR subjects in the WUSTL study !!! Point 4: 'BMR' means " basal metabolic rate " . In order to determine the number of calories you should be eating you need to multiply the BMR number by an exercise factor ...... perhaps 1·2 if ambulatory but entirely sedentary, to a much higher factor if highly active. (I use 1·35 for me, only modestly active). So if your BMR is 1200 and you multiply that by 1.35 then you need to be eating 1620 calories daily to maintain your weight. But there is a simpler way to look at this. If your BMI makes sense - above 19, say - and if your weight is stable, and if you know (have specifically checked) you are getting all the micronutrients you need based on the RDAs, then you likely don't need to worry, IMO. Nevertheless, 1200 calories for a male is incredibly low (for some reason I have the impression you are male?) even if you are small. 1600 is very low also. Remember that, in very round numbers, a 100 calories daily intake difference, up or down, will change you equilibrium body weight by about 15 pounds, up or down. There aren't many human studies showing the effects of VERY low caloric intakes short of starvation, so when your BMI starts to go below 20 you are beginning to enter uncharted territory. Caution is desirable. There are some very very slim people doing CR. No one knows if they will live to be 160, or die early. Could be either. You asked for my opinion. The above is it. We all have to place our bets based on our own assessment of the far-from-complete evidence. What is clear though is that eating 30% to 40% fewer calories than the average person eats (for males 30% to 40% less than 2550) is very likely to be very beneficial to health. But when you get to 50% or 60% CR, no one knows. If you do that then you are on your own. Hope this helps. Good luck. Rodney. > > Can I have your opinions on some things? > > I like to eat 2 large meals a day, instead of 3 meals with snacks. > What are your opinions on this? I find it easier to 'get it over > with' with my eating rather than taking out time out of my day, > throughout the entire day, just to eat! I've read a lot of > contradictory evidence about eating spaced out meals and whether or > not it is better to eat the 3 + snacks, I have my own opinions but > I'd like to know what yours are. > > Secondly, I get all my necessary nutrition (protein, fat, calcium, > fiber, etc) but don't eat as many carbs as is proportionally > recommended. I really don't know what to think when it comes to > studies on carbs and insulin and glucose, etc. I get all my fiber > and then some, avoid all unnecessary sugar, and the carbs I do eat > are all healthy (whole wheat bread, unsweetened oatmeal, whole grain > rice); do you think it's a big deal or not? > > Lastly I have a question about 'starvation mode.' Over and over > again I keep reading that anything below 1200 calories a day for a > human is basically a starvation diet. But, I am as small as they > get, and my bmr is 1200, the minimum. Would it be safe to go below > this number if I can get all the necessary nutrients at a lower > level? Because if I can't, the best I could do is only 20- 25% > restriction and I'd like to do a little more, but obviously don't > want to put my body in danger. So basically is my low bmr a setback > to partaking in restriction, or is it a flexible guideline? > > Please and thank you to all who read and take the time to give me > your thoughts on this. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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