A day when you are patient to lose weight and eat whatever you want to eat is often called a ‘cheating day’. For this day, it means to go back to the previous diet following relieving the accumulated stress by eating prohibited high-calorie foods. Cheat Day is attracting attention among men who want to build muscle and women who want to lose weight.
A new study found that in women, eating cheating meals during the past 12 months was associated with seven eating disorder behaviors. For men, cheating days were associated with behaviors such as binge eating, compulsive exercise, and fasting. “These results are particularly important given the popularity of cheating day meals spread through social media,” said Kyle Ganson, a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, who is the first author of the paper. There is a need,” he explained.
The researchers looked at data from the Canadian Adolescent Health Behavior Study for the period 2021-2022, involving approximately 2,700 adolescents and young adults. The results showed that men were more likely to have a ‘cheat day’ than women.
“Cheat days have been conceptualized and spread across the men’s strength and fitness community,” said Professor Ganson. “As a result, men may be using them strategically to promote muscle growth.” In a similar way, among women, cheating days can be used to prevent or reduce symptoms of binge eating and to alleviate cravings for forbidden foods.
All cheat day meals included high-calorie foods. However, there were significant differences in the types of cheat meals enjoyed by men and women. Men ate a protein-rich diet, while women were reported to eat more dairy and ‘sweet’ foods.
“Clinical experts should be aware of cheating days, which are common among adolescents and young adults,” said Professor Ganson.
The study was published in the Journal of Eating Disorders. The original title is ‘Characterizing cheat meals among a national sample of Canadian adolescents and young adults’.
Reporter Lee Bo-hyun together@kormedi.com
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