Paleo Pete: Three meals a day is a conspiracy

By Jane Hansen

He's been slammed for giving out wacky advice on everything from fluoride to sunscreen but celebrity chef and paleo diet devotee Pete Evans has now taken aim at you eating breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Dishing out his latest dietary advice, the My Kitchen Rules star told his 1.5 million online followers that the "whole notion of eating three meals a day" was not healthy.

Rather, it was a notion "created to help the multinational food industry stay in business by keeping the population craving carbs and not being able to maintain a healthy weight or to stay healthy".

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Evans, who has consistently been slapped down by health experts for offering up potentially dangerous advice, also took aim at the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), claiming they were part of the problem by recommending people eat three meals a day.

His claims came as he announced fasting would be incorporated into his Paleo Way 10-week program, suggesting skipping meals and fasting regularly was a "cheaper and quicker" way to eat and lose weight.

A far cry from his past "day on a plate" grazing of eight small meals, including activated almonds and emu meatballs, Evans said he now "intermittently fasts" eating only once or twice a day, or as needed.

"Once you are fat adapted, you stop the hunger cravings for food, as you are supplying the body its key nutrients in the most natural way, which in turn makes this way of eating cheaper and quicker," he said.

Health experts immediately hit back at Evans, saying his claims were a plate of baloney.
Dietitians Association of Australia spokeswoman, Melanie McGrice, said it was a nonsense three meals a day was somehow a conspiracy by food manufacturers.

She added there was some interesting science on intermittent fasting but a "one size fits all" approach never worked.

Diabetes expert Associate Professor Sof Andrikopoulos also said there was no evidence three meals a day was not healthy.

"It's not the meals, it's the size of the meals. You can have one meal of 4000 calories and you will still put on weight," he said.

Sydney University obesity expert Dr Nick Fuller said any restrictive diet that included starving was bound to fail.

"We know with all the fad diets and weight loss diets that people don't succeed because they are unrealistic. We don't succeed because a person experiences a drop in metabolism and increase in appetite hormones that drives the weight back on to where it started," he said.

Dr Fuller's new book, called Interval Weightloss, details how only slow, incremental weight loss with intervals of maintaining the weight loss, is scientifically proven to work without the restrictions that kill most diets.

He said skipping meals, especially for diabetics - which Mr Evans hopes his paleo plan prevents - can be dangerous.

While intermittent fasting has been a successful program tailored by British medico Dr Michael Mosley's famous 5:2 diet, the non-fasting days are not restrictive like the paleo diet.

While urging readers to consult their medical professionals, Mr Evans once again dishes out tips on diabetes, suggesting fasting can help.

"Fasting is the ultimate way to limit and help control the body's insulin production. The latest scientific research suggests that fasting could play a part in the prevention of many conditions, especially obesity and type 2 diabetes," he said.

Prof Andrikopoulos said Evans needed to realise the potential repercussions of his spouting his views.

"He is well-intentioned but he needs to make sure he understands the implications of his advice. If you have certain conditions, intermittent fasting may be dangerous," he said.

Evans, who did not respond to requests for comment, was criticised by the Australian Medical Association earlier this month over a new documentary which depicts the paleo diet as a treatment for chronic diseases as severe as diabetes, cancer and autism in children.

AMA president Michael Gannon likened Evans' The Magic Pill to controversial documentary Vaxxed, saying they were competing "in the awards for the films least likely to contribute to public health".

"Elements of the discussion are just plain hurtful, harmful and mean," Dr Gannon said.

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