Skip a Meal, Feel Better: The Benefits of Embracing a Little Hunger

In the days before our modern abundance, many people worldwide experienced hunger daily, with countless stories to tell. In today’s world, skipping just one meal a day and reducing the daily menu to two main meals—like a late breakfast and an early dinner—or even just one meal, won’t leave you starving, and might actually make you healthier. Different times, each with their own upsides and downsides. In the past, many people longed for food as a means of survival, treasuring every slice of bread, whereas now, most people in our modern world consume in just one day what would have lasted a whole week in the old days. And the health cost is steep!

Today, food is so appealing and readily available that people often eat without genuine hunger, just because they feel like it. This is obviously detrimental to our weight and health. The advice is to eat only when truly hungry, the sign being a rumbling stomach. Following this approach can lead to a healthier life, even without dietary changes. Furthermore, the Rambam advises skipping one meal a week: "It is beneficial to omit one meal weekly to give the stomach a rest and strengthen digestion. It seems best to skip this meal on Friday," (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, Siman 32).

Research on animals has shown that a mild sense of hunger can improve concentration, enhance senses, and sharpen memory. Conversely, prolonged hunger could lead to other problems, like weight gain and even reduced fertility. Thus, crash diets that increase the hormone ghrelin (we won’t go into detail here) result in a lack of satiety post-diet. This happens in cases of prolonged starvation (such as anorexia) or severe dieting, which is why it’s important to balance ghrelin levels in the body with moderate diets.

Additionally, eating less throughout the day is linked to longevity, a lower risk of cancerous tumors, and heart and vascular diseases by reducing blood clots, preventing diabetes, fatty liver, strengthening gray matter in the brain, significantly increasing antioxidant levels, reducing free radicals in the body, activating DNA repair mechanisms, and more...

May we achieve complete health and refine our food cravings in this era.

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