Chris Martin’s one-meal-a-day habit – why is it so popular among famous men and does it actually have any health benefits?

Coldplay front-man Chris Martin sparked an online debate today as he revealed he only eats one meal a day.

The singer, 46, said he started the strict diet after having lunch with 73-year-old Bruce Springsteen who was ‘in better shape’ than himself.

There are a substantial number of studies dating back at least a decade that suggest intermittent fasting may prolong someone’s life, trigger weight loss and lower their risk of diseases including diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

It has been suggested that restricting calories and time spent digesting food intake lowers inflammation levels in the body, as well as giving cells time to flush toxic products out of the body that could be damaging.

However, in recent years a small body of research has emerged linking the trend to a shorter lifespan and higher risk of heart disease. Experts suggest this may be because intermittent fasters eat more in one go, which they said could damage cells.

Chris Martin (before, left; after right) has had a stark weightloss transformation in recent years

Chris Hemsworth (left) and Hugh Jackman (right) are among the celebs that have taken up the one meal a day diet, Martin said

However, these are early findings and experts say intermittent fasting is still better than overeating, with obesity proven to cause a host of health issues. 

Martin also did not reveal what he eats, although he bizarrely joked that it was normally a flank of buffalo and steroid sauce.

However, he did say that he is a terrible cook — saying he had to call the fire service the two times he tried cooking over the last decade.

Other celebrities that have signed up to the diet in the past include Mark Wahlberg, Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman. 

The ‘one meal per day’ diet has also picked up mass appeal among men in recent years, as an efficient way to cut weight — especially this time of the year when many are preparing their summer bodies. 

Supporters of intermittent fasting have highlighted a number of touted health benefits from the diet plan.

They include a major Canadian meta-analysis released in 2020 which analyzed 27 trials of 27 trials which found people who used the plan could lose up to 13 percent of their weight without serious adverse effects.

Another meta-analysis published in 2015 from researchers at Salt Lake City, Utah, suggested that the plan left people less likely to develop coronary artery disease or diabetes.

Research has also found that the habit can boost cells sensitivity to insulin, which may be because less of the hormone is released daily, further cutting the diabetes risk.

Studies in mice have shown that the diet plan can raise longevity and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Rodents on the diet appear less prone to a build-up of dangerous beta-amyloid proteins in the brain.

These benefits are, however, yet to be confirmed in humans — with some studies now suggesting the opposite.

One paper released last year that followed 24,000 Americans over 40 years old warned that those who ate one meal per day were 30 percent more likely to die from any cause in 15 years compared to those who ate three.

This held true even if people exercised, ate healthily and rarely smoked or drank alcohol, the researchers claimed.

Scientists suggested this was because fasters ended up consuming a large amount of food in one go, which may put extra stress on the body as it tries to digest a dump of calories and nutrients at once.

They added, however, that it was still too early to say conclusively that intermittent fasting played a role in suffering early deaths.

Another suggested that intermittent fasting for weight loss was no more effective than restricting your calorie intake.

And a third carried out in mice suggested that skipping breakfast could raise the risk of developing heart disease or cancer.

Experts have previously warned DailyMail.com that people should be careful when opting to fast intermittently.