2743: Why You Don’t Need Six Small Meals A Day by Christian Finn of Muscle Evo on Fat Loss & Losing Weight

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[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Health Daily. While you don't need six small meals a day by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net. And I'm your host and personal narrator, Dr. Neil.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here. This is the podcast where I read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, and with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: While you don't need six small meals a day by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you going to lose fat faster by eating four, five, or even six small meals a day? Or will you do just as well with two to three larger ones?

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The latest research on meal frequency and body composition, which set out to answer that very question, has just been published.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: This wasn't actually a new study. Rather, it was something called a meta-analysis, which combines the results of several studies on the same subject.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Basically, the researchers pooled the results of 15 trials, crunched the numbers, and published a series of recommendations based on the results.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: What did they find?

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: There was a trend for five or more meals a day to result in greater fat loss when compared to one to two meals a day.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: However, the impact of meal frequency on fat loss was skewed by a single two-week study of boxers.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: In this study, Japanese researchers from Nagoya University tracked a group of 12 boxers for two weeks.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: The men were assigned to one of two groups.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Both groups consumed 1,200 calories and about 60 grams of protein per day.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Group 1 consumed only two liquid meals per day, breakfast and dinner, which were separated by 12 hours, while group 2 ate six liquid meals per day.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the study, both groups had lost a similar amount of weight.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: However, the boxers eating 600 calories twice daily lost more muscle, 8 pounds of muscle versus 5 pounds of muscle when compared to the other group,

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and lost less fat, about 3 pounds of fat versus 6 pounds of fat when compared to those again eating 200 calories six times daily.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Other than the fact that it lasted just a couple of weeks, there are two main problems with this study.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: First, protein intake was too low, only 60 grams per day.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Even the group eating six times a day lost muscle.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: The low protein intake is the main reason why.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And second, it involved the use of liquid meals, which are digested and absorbed a lot more quickly than solid meals.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: When this study was removed from the analysis, the impact of meal frequency on fat loss was no longer significant.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So what effect did meal frequency have on fat-free mass, also known as muscle mass?

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: There was a trend for 5 or more meals to result in greater muscle retention compared with only consuming 1 to 2 meals a day.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, this was skewed by the same 2-week study of boxers.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: When this study was again removed from the analysis, there was no impact of meal frequency on muscle retention.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: To quote the authors directly,

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote,

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The positive relationship between the number of meals consumed and improvements in body composition

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: were largely attributed to the results of a single study, calling into question the veracity of results.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Moreover, the small difference in magnitude of effect between frequencies suggests that any potential benefits,

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: if they exist at all, have limited practical significance.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Given that adherence is of primary concern with respect to nutritional prescription,

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: the number of daily meals consumed should come down to personal choice if one's goal is to improve body composition.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: End quote.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: One potential downside of eating more frequently,

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: particularly for those that identify as female,

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: who generally need fewer calories than those that are male,

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: is that it can leave you hungrier than if you'd eaten the same number of calories in fewer meals.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's take the example of a female trying to lose weight by eating 1500 calories per day.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: If she was to eat 6 times a day,

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: each meal would contain only 250 calories.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Such a tiny amount of food isn't going to do much for your hunger pangs

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and will probably leave you wanting even more.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: The research on the subject of meal frequency and hunger and appetite is a bit of a mixed bag.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: University of Colorado researchers found that increasing meal frequency from 3 to 6 per day

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: had no significant effect on metabolic rate or the amount of fat burned over a 24-hour period.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But it did lead to an increase in both hunger and the desire to eat.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: In subjects with a relatively high protein intake, about 25% of total calories per day,

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: eating 3 rather than 6 meals per day led to greater evening and late-night fullness.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: On the flip side, other researchers could find no difference in appetite measurements

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: when comparing 3 and 6 meals a day.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's their conclusion.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote,

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: There were no significant differences between the low and high meal frequency groups for adiposity indices,

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: appetite measurements, or gut peptides like peptide YY and ghrelin,

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: either before or after the intervention.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: We conclude that increasing meal frequency does not promote greater body weight loss

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: under the conditions described in the present study.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: End quote.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: There is also research to show that dividing calorie intake over 1 to 2 meals per day

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: rather than 3 meals per day led to reduced feelings of satiety and an increase in appetite.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Ultimately, it boils down to doing what works for you.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: The optimal meal frequency for an active male bodybuilder with high caloric needs

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: will differ from that of an inactive female half his size.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: There is no one-size-fits-all prescription that will work equally well for all people all of the time.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Will it make any difference to your rate of fat loss if you eat 3 or 6 times per day

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: for the vast majority of people?

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: It will not.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the data show that an increase in meal frequency has no significant effect on weight loss,

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: metabolic rate, or the amount of fat burned over a 24-hour period.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: That's not to say you can't get results by eating 6 small meals a day.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Plenty of people have done it.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's not necessary or even desirable as far as losing fat is concerned.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled,

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Why You Don't Need 6 Small Meals a Day by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I always love reading posts from today's author, Christian,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: because he not only talks about published studies,

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: but carefully evaluates them too.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And his takeaway is absolutely right.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing wrong with eating 6 meals a day if that suits you and your lifestyle.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But if your goal is to improve your athletic performance or lose body fat and gain muscle,

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: eating 6 meals a day won't necessarily get you any closer.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: If we force ourselves to eat 6 meals a day,

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: as Christian said, we could end up consuming too many calories,

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: which is probably not what we want.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And forcing ourselves to overeat could lead us to forming a not-so-great habit over the longer term.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So again, find what eating pattern works best for you and your goals.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's probably the one that's going to get you closer to your goals.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, that's another edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening.

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