Eating multiple meals per day may help you to lose weight if it influences you to eat fewer calories. If doing so influences you to overeat, stick to your regular eating schedule. No number of meals per day is right for everyone. Some people will prefer three meals per day, while others may need five or six. Talk to your doctor for help developing a personalized diet plan.
Claims
Myths in the media prevail about the "right" times to eat to lose weight. The myth that eating late at night leads to weight gain has been disproven. The time of day you eat doesn't matter; total calories consumed does. Advocates of eating multiple meals per day claim that doing so can help increase your metabolism and provide constant energy. They also claim you will experience less hunger, diminished food cravings and more stable blood sugar. As a result, you would be able to lose fat and build lean muscle mass. However, many of these claims are unsubstantiated.
Overeating
Eating more frequent meals throughout the day may help you to lose weight because doing so prevents you from getting excessively hungry at any one time. By keeping hunger under control, you're less likely to experience uncontrollable cravings or overeat. Allowing yourself to get too hungry may also encourage you to eat more quickly at mealtime, causing you to take in more calories and leading to digestive problems.
Research
As long as you follow a restricted-calorie diet, eating multiple meals per day does not lead to more weight loss than eating fewer meals, according to a 2010 study in the "British Journal of Nutrition." In the study, obese women were divided into two groups. One group ate six times per day, and one group ate three times per day. Both groups experienced comparable weight loss. This study suggests that if increased meal frequency helps some people lose more weight, it is not because of increased metabolic rate. Instead, this method may help by encouraging dieters to eat fewer calories.
Recommendations
Experiment with your meal frequency to find the number of meals per day that's right for you. You may find that the appropriate meal frequency for you varies depending on your schedule. If three meals a day works for you, don't feel pressured to change your diet. If you want to eat several times per day but don't have time for several small meals, carry small snacks with you, such as chopped vegetables, dried fruit or a granola bar. Remember to keep an eye on calories. If you decide to eat multiple meals per day, limit your portion sizes and choose mostly low-calorie foods.
Member Comments