World Fitness Blog : Leading Global Bloggers

June 4, 2023

Is a cheat meal undoing your diet?

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: — admin @ 1:06 am

If you have ever been in dieting or bodybuilding circles, you will be familiar with the idea of a ‘cheat’ – a meal in which you schedule the time to ditch your strict meal plan and eat the more indulgent foods you are not permitting yourself.

A cheat may be as simple as a heavier meal with a few drinks, or it may even turn into an entire day of indulgent eating which can translates into many hundreds of extra calories, as well as much fat and sugar.

While it is not uncommon to factor in a more indulgent meal or two as part of any balanced diet, there is new research to suggest a ‘cheat’ meal, that includes highly processed foods packed with fats and sugars, may be much more damaging to the body long-term than we have previously realised.

READ MORE: ‘There is no way I can run for eight minutes straight’

Woman eating a cheat meal
A cheat may be as simple as a heavier meal with a few drinks, or an entire day of indulgent eating. (iStock)

The new research

Researchers at the University of New South Wales recently investigated the impact of a more indulgent ‘cheat’ style meal with a group of rats (yes, it is a rat study). In the study, published in the scientific journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, a group of rats ate a generally healthy, calorie-controlled diet most of the time, but were then occasionally allowed to feast on high fat, high sugar foods.

The rats who took part in these ‘cheats’ were shown to have significant cognitive impairment after completing memory tests, as well as a number of negative changes relating to their gut microbiome.

Of most interest was the finding that the impact on cognitive function became worse the longer the rats were exposed to the unhealthy, cheat style diet.

READ MORE: How to prevent stitches and other common pain points when running

Researchers concluded that an unhealthy diet is not only associated with an excessive calorie intake and weight gain in the short term, but even one-off binge eating occasions appear to impact inflammatory pathways in our body, which can immediately impact brain function.

It also appears that the health of the gut impacts brain function directly, and the balance of our microbiome is affected even after a single high calorie, processed meal.

couple eating hamburgers
One-off binge eating occasions appear to impact inflammatory pathways in our body. (Getty)

What does this mean for a ‘cheat meals’

Rather than considering a cheat as an opportunity for the consumption of a large quantity of highly processed, poor-quality food, factoring in regular but less processed indulgences.

For example, a glass of good quality wine, or a few squares of dark chocolate after your evening meal, will likely bring you much pleasure, minus any long-term damaging effects to your gut and the brain.

Diets during which you find it difficult to go about your normal life are unsustainable and can fuel this restriction binge cycle.

Diets that are overly restrictive and during which you find it difficult to go about your normal life are unsustainable and can fuel this restriction binge cycle, which is associated with giving yourself permission to ‘cheat’ on your diet. For this reason they too are best avoided if the goal is to support sound dietary habits and gut and brain health long term.

READ MORE: Dietitian ranks popular ready-made soups by salt content

The key learnings

At times we will all over-consume high calorie foods, but there is a difference between enjoying a couple of slices of pizza and a few drinks, and binge eating fried food, soft drinks and junk food for days at a time because you are ‘off’ your diet.

There is more and more evidence to show that it is the regular intake of ultra processed foods, or foods that do not resemble whole, natural foods, that is closely associated with a number of disease states including some types of cancer. The less of this highly processed food, which includes deep fried fast food, pastries, soft drink and snack foods like chips and biscuits are consumed, the better, whether you are indulging or not.

This means that when you do take a break from your regular diet, seek out whole, natural foods that are still delicious and indulgent, but try not to use a meal off as an excuse to eat poor quality food.

Author Susie Burrell is a leading Australian dietitian and nutritionist, founder of Shape Me, co-host of The Nutrition Couch podcast and prominent media spokesperson, with regular appearances in both print and television media commenting on all areas of diet, weight loss and nutrition.

For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here

pasta sauces

Dietitian ranks ready-made pasta sauces from worst to best

Source

Comments are closed.

Powered by WordPress