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Actually intermittent fasting was the norm - Americans averaged three meals a day with no snacks (you’ll spoil your appetite!), and typically spent 12-14 hours

by lhl 7y ago

Actually intermittent fasting was the norm - Americans averaged three meals a day with no snacks (you’ll spoil your appetite!), and typically spent 12-14 hours between supper/dinner and breakfast. Insulin response remained pulsatile with enough postprandial time for it to return to baseline. The reference I have handy shows that Americans average 5 meals/snacks per day now: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29574043 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29574043 although I’ve seen even higher numbers (closer to 6) mentioned. Ah, found a source analyzing eating frequency (and timing) changes since 1977: https://idmprogram.com/the-critical-importance-of-meal-timing-for-weight-loss/ https://idmprogram.com/the-critical-importance-of-meal-timin...

ben7799 7y ago
I'm not sure how that's fasting. I don't consider myself as someone who fasts and it is typically 13-14 hours from my supper to my breakfast. Eat dinner around 6-7PM Eat breakfast around 7:30-8AM My schedule I would assume is shifted forward from say my grandparents schedule. They would have eaten dinner & breakfast earlier due to differences in work hours 50+ years ago. If that's fasting it seems like a strange/new definition. But maybe a lot of people are indeed still eating something substantial closer to midnight as they watch TV or something? I actually spread out my lunch into several smaller meals during the day. But I also exercise a lot, and I'm not buying lunch like so many engineers I work with. My lunch is 1/4-1/2 the size of a sit down restaurant meal. The old norm was so much more physical activity than today too. One of those articles is totally right about kids though. When I was a kid I took a lunch to school and that was the only time I ate. My son is going into first grade and all the day cares he went to and his current school have dedicated snack times, 2-3 extra times eating that are not lunch. The day care that had 3 snack times porked the kids up pretty good.
- lhl 7y ago
  Per the article, 14h is actually what’s being spoken about: “There are different ways to go about it, but I advise patients to omit either dinner or breakfast, so that they don’t ingest any food for at least 14 hours at a stretch.” This should probably more specifically described as Time Restricted Eating/Feeding, but IF is sort of used as a catch all for this and other eating patterns, so what can you do. Sadly, due to snacking and the misconception that they should eat as soon as they get up, I suspect that most Americans probably have an eating window that spans 14-16h instead of 8-10h (which has been RCT’d to show a significant difference in hunger and ad libitum food consumption).

by lhl 7y ago

ben7799 7y ago

I'm not sure how that's fasting. I don't consider myself as someone who fasts and it is typically 13-14 hours from my supper to my breakfast. Eat dinner around 6-7PM Eat breakfast around 7:30-8AM My schedule I would assume is shifted forward from say my grandparents schedule. They would have eaten dinner & breakfast earlier due to differences in work hours 50+ years ago. If that's fasting it seems like a strange/new definition. But maybe a lot of people are indeed still eating something substantial closer to midnight as they watch TV or something? I actually spread out my lunch into several smaller meals during the day. But I also exercise a lot, and I'm not buying lunch like so many engineers I work with. My lunch is 1/4-1/2 the size of a sit down restaurant meal. The old norm was so much more physical activity than today too. One of those articles is totally right about kids though. When I was a kid I took a lunch to school and that was the only time I ate. My son is going into first grade and all the day cares he went to and his current school have dedicated snack times, 2-3 extra times eating that are not lunch. The day care that had 3 snack times porked the kids up pretty good.

lhl 7y ago
Per the article, 14h is actually what’s being spoken about: “There are different ways to go about it, but I advise patients to omit either dinner or breakfast, so that they don’t ingest any food for at least 14 hours at a stretch.” This should probably more specifically described as Time Restricted Eating/Feeding, but IF is sort of used as a catch all for this and other eating patterns, so what can you do. Sadly, due to snacking and the misconception that they should eat as soon as they get up, I suspect that most Americans probably have an eating window that spans 14-16h instead of 8-10h (which has been RCT’d to show a significant difference in hunger and ad libitum food consumption).