We're talking today about the continuous snacking. Something we don't perceive as dangerous. We've had just one chip, 2-3 pastries, an apple. Yes, but all day long.

There's a perfect mathematical system in place between the brain, liver, pancreas, and intestines. The rules are perfect. We disrupt them by eating. Not by eating a lot, but by eating non-stop. Now a candy, now a soda. A pretzel in the morning. Continuous snacking.

The mathematical system was designed for three main meals spaced over time. That's it. In between, there should be just water, the only calorie-free liquid. What happens if we don't stick to the three primary meals and end up with 10-12 food servings throughout the day, even if they're not particularly large?

Professor Laura Iliescu, PhD, explains.

Laura Iliescu, doctor of internal medicine at the Fundeni Clinical Institute: "We believe that nothing happens. Well, I ate a bun or had a cake, there won't be any consequences. But I'm disrupting the endocrine system and the nervous system with the hypothalamus, and they can no longer regulate".

All these abnormal processes lead to inflammation. Let's look at the liver. Here, fat cells appear. They contain fats called triglycerides. This occurs because the liver can no longer effectively process the sugars and fats from our food.

The food aggression continues. Snacking or frequent small meals throughout the day. The next step is inflammation in the liver. Inflammation activates dangerous cells, the so-called liver stellate cells.

Laura Iliescu, doctor of internal medicine at the Fundeni Clinical Institute: "The situation shifts, giving rise to inflammation, and subsequently, these stellate cells move. They possess extensions, resembling little feet, as they release compounds that trigger their activation and, in turn, produce substances that encourage the formation of collagen. This leads to the development of fibrosis, which resembles a scar on the skin, but manifests as a nodule within the liver".

Stellate cells prevent the liver - the body's main energy factory - from producing energy. They block all its functions. If the liver suffers, so does the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst. It fills with fat.

Laura Iliescu, doctor of internal medicine at the Fundeni Clinical Institute: "The deposits are made of cholesterol. The liquid called bile is no longer thinned as it should be because we don't drink water, because we stimulate it in vain with snacking, and this liquid ends up thickening like mud".

Gallstones emerge within this thick liquid. The majority of them are cholesterol-based. They form as a result of continuous snacking throughout the day. The human body naturally craves only three main meals daily. Each separated by at least four hours. With water being the only desired refreshment in between.