Quantity
Eat little, sleep sound. ~ Iranian proverb
Eating well by eating nutritiously is essential to good health. Eating as little as possible to comfortably maintain life is as important as selecting healthy foods.
The body changes when one resolutely adopts a diet of minimal consumption. Hunger gives way to emptiness. In other words, with a proper diet, in both selection and quantity, one no longer feels hungry. The stomach never growls. One simply feels out of fuel, and so eats.
Eating less lets cells get some of their energy supply from body fat: a process called ketosis. Body fat breakdown puts ketone bodies into the bloodstream.
Caloric restriction extends life span at least in part through increasing the levels of ketone bodies. An effective method for combating free radical damage occurs through the metabolism of ketone bodies. ~ American physician Richard Veech et al
Eating on schedule, or eating when not feeling the need, is not healthy. Unfortunately, most workers in industrialized countries lead over-scheduled lives. The alternative is to eat little at meals to accommodate one’s schedule – an unsatisfactory compromise.
A snacking diet – eating more frequently but less at a time – is not nearly as healthy a diet as eating 2 meals a day, 3 small meals at most. Giving autophagy its due time is important.
A sensible regime is to vary daily caloric intake: to eat little on some days. Fasting cleanses the body and slows aging.
