Dietician reveals the dangers of OMAD diet, shares how to fast healthily

Those who are following OMAD diet are at serious health risk, primarily because one meal a day affects gallbladder and disrupts natural digestion.

Weight loss involves creating a calorie deficit, which means burning more calories than you consume. Several routes are available to create this gap, whether through nutrition or physical activity. Intermittent fasting is one such approach to reducing daily calorie intake, where you eat within specific time windows and fast for the rest of the day. One extreme and highly restrictive form of intermittent fasting is OMAD, or One Meal A Day, which is causing serious health concerns.

Dietitian Dasha, who frequently shares insights on nutrition and clean eating, drew attention to a growing pattern of people developing gallbladder stones after following OMAD in a January 12 Instagram post.

Why are gallbladder stones occurring?

Following OMAD may make you believe it is a quicker way to weight loss, but the dietitian flagged it, revealing that health experts are observing a rise in gallbladder-related issues among people who follow extreme fasting patterns like OMAD.

Dasha insisted that the gallbladder plays a very critical role in digestion. How? By storing bile, which helps to break down fat. But when you eat only once and let yourself starve the rest of the day, your digestion gets adversely affected.

“Bile is released by the gallbladder to help you digest fats throughout the day, whatever you are eating," she explained the process. "Bile secretion is stimulated when you eat food, and so if you are only eating once a day, that bile is kinda just sitting there in the gallbladder, and it is forming what is called gallbladder sludge, which increases the chances or risks of getting gallstones”

How to fast healthily?

What can you do instead? The dietician suggested a more balanced way forward, which is healthier and easier to sustain. This includes keeping a 12-hour overnight fast, such as finishing dinner by 7 pm and having breakfast at 7 am the next morning. Eating within an hour of waking up helps support energy levels and metabolism. Spacing balanced meals every three to four hours, with adequate protein intake of around 30 grams per meal, can help regulate blood sugar and prevent overeating. Moreover, stopping eating at least three hours before bedtime allows the body enough time to digest properly and supports better sleep quality.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.