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.

    少吃一顿饭的后果与好处

    人们常常因为工作忙碌或努力减肥而错过了吃饭。但你少吃一顿饭以及你下一顿的食入量将会影响你的整体健康。

    在你决定跳过你下一顿饭之前想清楚

    对于跳过正常膳食的科学数据一直让人困惑。在一些研究中，空腹导致可衡量的代谢有益于极度肥胖的人，并且，在动物实验中，间歇性喂养和禁食可降低糖尿病的发病率，提高某些心血管健康的指标。即便如此，一些观察性研究和短期实验仍暗示：经常不吃饭和健康状况不佳存在联系。

    近几个月，两项新研究也许有助于解释经常不吃饭如何影响健康。

    这个月刊登在医学杂志《Metabolism》的最新研究看当人们从不吃饭到最终坐下吃平时一样多的份量与最终不吃饭之间会有什么变化。这项研究，由国家衰老研究所的糖尿病研究员提供，涉及健康、体重正常、40岁的的男性和女性。2个月以来，研究对象一日吃三餐。在另外的8个星期内，他们跳过两餐，但在一个晚上吃了同样数目的卡路里的一顿饭，下午4点到晚上八点之间消耗。

    研究人员发现，白天不吃饭而在傍晚狠狠吃一大餐会使新陈代谢变化产生潜在的风险。不吃饭一族有空腹血糖水平升高而胰岛素反应延迟的状况，如果他们长期坚持，可能会导致糖尿病。

    这项研究是引人注目的，因为它遵循今年早些时候的另一项研究，研究发现，每隔一天不吃饭实际上可以改善病人的健康。这项研究3月发表正在《Free Radical Biology & Medicine》中，其中提到有轻度哮喘且体重超重的成年人每天进行正常的膳食。其次是一天的严格限制饮食，当他们吃不到百分之二十的正常热量摄取，或一天约400或500卡的热量-大约相当于一餐。十分之九的参与研究的人能够坚持饮食计划。

    接着进行后候补天节食模式两个月之后，节食者平均减掉的了他们身体重量8%的体重，他们的哮喘相关的症状也有所改善。降低了胆固醇和甘油三酯的水平， 惊人地削减了氧化应激标志和提高抗氧化剂尿酸的水平。炎症标志物也大大地降低。

    最后，提一下最新研究不正常饮食作者的观点，即不正常饮食是控制饮食计划的一部分，因为低热量摄入可能会导致更好的保健。然而，白天不吃饭然后晚餐吃过量会导致有害的代谢在体内的变化。