Dr Dixit has been a craze of a decade! Still people are trying the unpactical 2 meals a day. Dr Om Lakhani has written a fine article debunking the myths. Rujuta Diwekar dismissed Dr Dixit royally in a 5 minute video while talking to Mumbai Police .
Dr Om Lakhani -- from his Twitter profile. @omlakhani
Here is the fantastic article written in 2018 and published on Medium. It is published as An Open Letter to Dr Dixit. I believe it is doing the rounds of Whatsapp group.
An Open Letter to Dr Dixit
https://medium.com/@dromlakhani/an-open-letter-to-dr-dixit-df47a3d3d703
Please do read the article. It is a bit technical and I am trying to make notes here as a reminder for myself. Also, I hope others will find it useful too....both as a quick summary and as a reminder.
Two meals a day will cause weight loss. But any form of calorie restriction will lead to weight loss. Calorie restriction is a method to control diabetes.
Two large meals is a bad idea. (it is unnatural and impractical). Larger meals mean larger glucose (more insulin gets released).
Here are the words of Dr Om Lakhani in the article.
Larger meals mean larger insulin release, smaller meals mean smaller degree of release of insulin. Remember insulin release is logarithmic. Hence two large meals would infact cause more insulin release than multiple small meals a day. When combined with defect in insulin secretion, it would mean larger post-prandial glucose levels. What you are proposing is in-fact more detrimental to the human physiology than multiple small meals a day.
More glucose will lead to a large amount of insulin being released, which will lead to insulin resistance and ultimately diabetes.
Dr Lakhani says:
To compensate for increased resistance, the beta cells produce more insulin which leads to the development of the typical acanthosis nigricans which you see in these patients. However, there comes a time when the beta cells cannot produce any insulin further and this is when the blood sugars start to rise. This is when you develop frank diabetes mellitus. At the time of diagnosis, a patient with type 2 diabetes has lost almost 50% of his insulin producing capacity.
Acanthosis nigricans is the dark discoloration seen on your neck, groin, and armpits.
If you Google and look for images of Acanthosis nigricans you will see hundreds of pictures.
If you see such signs, do check with your GP. If you have a family history of Diabetes, please consult an endocrinologist/diabetologist. The earlier you start taking care, the chances of getting diabetes will be lower. If you have prediabetes, you will probably get diabetes in 5-10-15 years. You can avoid or delay the onset of diabetes by taking proper care. Eating a proper diet and taking the medicines, if and when prescribed.
Dr Lakhani says it clearly (my summary): Larger and less frequent meals will worsen the pre-diabetes/diabetes when compared to smaller and more frequent meals.
There's an excellent graphic which accompanies the article. It says:
I TYPICALLY EAT 5-6 TIMES A DAY.
Obesity
The article goes into details about obesity. Dr Lakhani says: Losing weight is not important, it is important to lose
fat while maintaining the muscle mass.
Not sure why people do not use their common sense. We need doctors like Dr Lakhani to open our eyes. Debunking the myth propagated by Dr Dixit and countless other weight loss
charlatans, he says:
Most of these people who have two meals a day, will eventually start consuming more calories in these two meals which was equivalent to what was available in three meals. This will make them regain the weight again.
Dr Dixit's "study" is also debunked. By the way, it is not a proper study, but only the narration of Dr Dixit's experience with Dr Dixit's Weight Loss Plan group.
Dr Dixit's article claims:
“Poor and ignorant people are being looted. This simple method of weight loss costs nothing, there is no requirement of a doctor and contrary to many other successful methods of weight loss, can be followed for a lifetime”.
Dr Lakhani corrects the false claim by saying:
Obese patients DO NEED a doctor and not only do they need a doctor they also need a good nutritionist or dietician and a physiotherapist or a trainer. Spending money on health is not ‘looting’ poor and ignorant people.
Dr Lakhani and several other endocrinologists are available on Twitter. Follow them to know more the best way to treat diabetes. Best way to health.