One meal a day

Question
Hi
Contrary to popular opinion, I have found that I feel better and have less digestive issues on one meal a day, at supper.
Everyone says 'you have to eat breakfast' and your body will go into starvation mode if you dont eat three meals a day'.
One size does not fit all and everyone has a different system.
I function OK with just tea and yogurt for breakfast and fruit for lunch, with most of my calories for supper.
I have met several people that also do this.
In fact when I travelled in Europe they had one main meal in the evening. The breakfast meal-lunch meal-supper meal seems to be an American thing-probably a holdover from the labor intensive rural days, not compatible with the sedentary office worker days (thats me)
I also have much less bloating, gas, and heartburn then before.
Maybe my body only produces so many enzymes and digestive juices and by saving them for one meal I digest better?

Your thoughts appreciated.

Answer
Hi Terry,
Sounds to me like you may have what's called GERD, or Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease.  From what you are telling me, normal meals cause you bloating, gas, heartburn and digestive problems in general.  Those are classic signs of GERD, and the reason you feel great after only eating 1 meal is because the food is not coming up out of your stomach anymore (because there is not much volume of food being introduced into the stomach)....
GERD has many causes, including infection with H. Pylori (very common in a lot of people), too many meals/too large meals, lying down/sleeping after meals, tight/restrictive clothing/belts, overweight, stress, etc.
I would agree with you on your argument regarding sedentary people require less calories than the labor intensive, and while that may be well and true with you (that you don't require as many calories as the average person), the fact that you experienced all those digestive issues when you ate more than 1 meal per day is what concerns me and tips me off that you have GERD.  Simply eating more calories than is necessary for your personal metabolism would not give you all those digestive issues.....
So, I would recommend that you see your primary care provider to be evaluated for possible GERD, in which case they would start you off on a trial therapy of PPI or"Proton Pump Inhibitor" medication, in laymen's terms: the trade name Prilosec.   If you do have H. Pylori infection, they will add some antibiotics to your pharmacy cocktail, known in the medical world as "triple therapy" (2 diff. antibiotics with the Prilosec/PPI).
Even if you feel better now with the 1 meal, I would still tell your Dr. about your symptoms, because they can get worse over time, and eventually that 1 meal may cause all these symptoms if the problem escalates.
Good luck Terry!

1. Prev:bedwetting
2. Next:Vegetarian Diabetic Diet