Three large meals per day is actually healthier than many small meals

Saturday, December 08, 2012 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer for Natural News.com

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(NaturalNews) Eating three large meals per day might be the healthiest choice  for people struggling with their weight, according to a study conducted by  researchers from the University of Missouri and published in the journal  Obesity.

With obesity rates having doubled worldwide since 1980  and still on the rise, health researchers are continually searching for ways to  help people keep or regain healthier weights. Obesity is strongly linked to a  higher risk of cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, various types of  cancer, and early death, and has also been implicated in an increased risk of  cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. More than  one-third of all people in the United States are now classified as  obese.

Yet, much popular dietary advice – even that promoted by health  professionals – has not necessarily been scientifically tested for accuracy, or  for its applicability to people who are already obese.

“The mass media  and many health care practitioners often advocate eating several small meals  throughout the day,” lead author Tim Heden said. “However, when we examined the  literature, we didn’t find many studies examining or supporting this popular  claim. This lack of research led to our study, which is one of the first to  examine how meal frequency affects insulin and blood-fat levels in obese women  during an entire day of eating.”

Fewer meals mean less fat, lower disease risk

The researchers observed  eight obese women on two separate days. On one visit, the women were assigned to  consume 1,500 calories over the course of 12-hours in the form of three  500-calorie liquid meals. On  the other visit, they were assigned to consume six 250-calorie meals instead. On  both visits, the researchers monitored each woman’s blood sugar and fat levels  every 30 minutes. They found that women’s blood fat levels were significantly  lower when they consumed three meals rather than six.

The findings might  help craft new dietary recommendations geared specifically at obese women, Heden  said.

“Our data suggests that, for obese women, eating fewer, bigger meals may be more advantageous metabolically compared to eating  smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day,” Heden said. “Eating larger  meals less often lowered blood-fat levels. Over time, consistently eating fewer,  larger meals each day could lower the women’s blood-fat levels and thereby lower  their risk of developing heart disease.”

Although the study’s findings  still need to be replicated and confirmed for their applicability to real-world  situations, co-author Jill Kanaley noted that there are sound logical reasons  that eating several small meals might be unwise even without specific  physiological effects.

“With multiple meals throughout the day, you have  to be careful,” Kanaley said. “If you start consuming several meals, there’s  more potential to overeat or to make unhealthy snack choices with easily  accessible junk food.”

“Some people are good at making efforts to eat  healthy snacks; however, most people aren’t, and they end up taking in too many  calories. The more times you sit down to eat, the more calories you’re probably  going to take in.”

Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206131832.htm

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/031857_obesity_junk_food.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/037892_overweight_obesity_cancer_risk.html

Categories: COOKING/FOOD, HEALTH

Tags: Blood lipids, Calorie, Diabetes mellitus type 2, Eating, Health, Obesity, United States, University of Missouri