Meal Frequency Myth

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i’m sure you’ve heard it before from many people….

“You need to eat smaller and more frequent meals through-out the day in order to speed-up your metabolism”

But is that really the case?

Let’s find out.

Eating Small Meals 5-6x A Day For Weight Loss

Of course that method of eating CAN work. Many diets have proven that in the past.

BUT….the reason is not because of some “faster metabolism” but rather just a way to keep someone in calorie deficit consistently (to lose weight).

REAL reasons eating 6x a day works:

People are recommended to eat more fibrous vegetables and protein to keep fuller
Eating more often can help curb cravings and binge eating
Smaller meals in right portions of carb/protein/fat can keep blood sugar/insulin stable and encourage more fat burning while in the “fed” state all day long
At the end of the day people who get success are still in calorie deficit

Turning Up The Heat

Well it comes down to what is known as “thermogenesis”.

Thermogenesis is where the body expels energy in the form of heat through what it has to do (and in this case we are talking about the energy of digesting food).

>But here’s the fun “sciency” part, if you eat the same DAILY amount of food/calories split into either 6 meals or 3 meals, isn’t that the same amount of digestive energy required overall?

So 1500 calories is still 1500 calories at the end of the day whether you split it 6 times or 3 times.

“Since the 1960s, epidemiological studies have reported an inverse relationship between frequency of eating and body weight, suggesting that a “nibbling” pattern could help to prevent obesity. This notion has later been put into question by the recognition of a high level of dietary under-reporting in overweight individuals. In addition, no difference in total daily energy expenditure has been documented as a function of daily meal number. Weight loss is not facilitated by high meal frequency. ”

Source: “Impact of the daily meal pattern on energy balance”, France Bellisle, Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition, Oct 2004https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3592618/

Show Me The Studies

Other studies

Given the same hyocaloric load in either 1 meal or 5 meals, no noticeable differences (Source)
6 vs 2 Source
6 vs 3 Source
One study (Stote KS et al 2007) compared just 3 meals/day to 1 meal/day on body-weight regulation mechanisms over the long run. When eating their maintenance calorie load (whether in 3 or 1 meal) per day, over 6 months both groups maintained their body weight (within 2kg of their initial weight).
Another study (Verboeket-van de Venne WP 1991) compared 2 meals per day vs 7 meals, with identical calorie load. What they found was no difference in total 24-hour energy expenditure and no difference in total protein oxidation.

“More importantly, studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labeled water to assess total 24 h energy expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging. Finally, with the exception of a single study, there is no evidence that weight loss on hypoenergetic regimens is altered by meal frequency. We conclude that any effects of meal pattern on the regulation of body weight are likely to be mediated through effects on the food intake side of the energy balance equation.”
Source: “Meal frequency and energy balance”; Br J Nutr. 1997 Apr;77 Suppl 1:S57-70.

In other words, it all evens out when you look at the bigger picture of 24 hours a day!

You Don’t “Need” all those Bars, Shakes and Meal Plans
Supplement companies are making a killing in the weight loss world on “special” snack bars, meal replacement shakes, and prepackaged meals all based around this eat more often to “speed up” your metabolism myth.

Do you now see why everyone “thinks” they need to eat more? It is because that myth is constantly being “pushed” (sold) to the general public as a scientific fact, when it is actually just a great marketing approach!

You will see celebrities on TV getting paid millions to lose weight on those types of programs (when we all should realize now that the real magic is in the total energy calorie deficit, not the amount of meals).

So the choice is now yours

To sum up everything:

There is no real truth to accelerated thermogenesis from increased meal frequency (with same calorie deficit load)
There is no real truth of improved body composition with increased meal frequency (with same calorie deficit load)
It’s still about the total calories for the day even with different insulin responses
Hunger is the biggest issue with any dieting and eating more often is supposed to help combat that (but it depends on what people are eating whether that is true or not)

Personally back in the days when I was eating 5-6x a day, it wasn’t very enjoyable.

I also tended to be hungry and have energy swings more often.

Now as I’m older I find a smaller meal frequency to suit my lifestyle (and enjoyability levels) much better.

Of course more people may need multiple meals to get in the daily amount of calories they require (especially if leading an active lifestyle).

I talk more about this in my free course