Eating Less More Frequently? The key to curing CHD?

Last week, I presented y’all with what the media thought and how they explained the effects of  meal frequency myth. This week, I figured I would present a different side of the situation and start to dive right into the science. In case if you forgot, I am looking to explore the myth that eating smaller meals through out the day has greater health benefits than eating one to three larger meals. Through the next few weeks, I will be looking at specific health conditions (rather than just weight or BMI, because health is more than a number on a scale).

This week, I looked at the major killer, coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is a leading cause of deaths in the US. About 30% of all deaths are because of this plaque (linked to high LDL cholesterol levels) that is building up in the arteries of the heart. It can take many years for the plaque to build up, but CHD does put your health in major risk, and you will be more likely to experience a heart attack. Those who eat diets with more saturated fats, have high blood pressure or other chronic health issues are at greater risk to develop CHD. Another thing about CHD that is important to know is that it is mainly treated with lifestyle management, but in some cases it is treated with pills. 

So now that you know more about what CHD is, you might be asking how is this linked to the number of meals a person eats through the day. Well, keep reading to find out more.

In a study published in Nutrition Reviews the researchers look through previous studies that examined the relationship between risk factors for CHD and the number of meals participants consumed in the day. Through the various studies, there were two different meal pattern groups. One simply feasted and ate all of their daily calories in one meal, while the other group, Nibbling ate three, six, nine, 12,17 meals. The idea of 17 meals overwhelms me a bit! One thing that you should know before reading on, is that both the feasting groups and the fasting groups did eat the same number of calories, it just was broken up in the varying ways. 

One of the first risk factors that the reviewers looked for was cholesterol, which is a major contributor to CHD, since the LDL cholesterol is what can lead to the plaque build up in the first place. The studies that examined LDL and feeding frequency concluded that those who ate more frequently through the day had lower LDL and total cholesterol levels. The study took participants and did not alter their diet, but changed how many times each day they ate. Those who ate 17 times lowered their total cholesterol levels by 17%. Data also showed that as the number of meals decreased per day, so did the reduction of total cholesterol. There was a clear relationship between as the number of meals increased, total cholesterol decreased.  So what about those who ate one meal? Their total cholesterol levels actually increased by 19%. 

So why is this? I was asking myself this. There seems to be some link to insulin production and circulation. If one is only eating one meal a day, after gorging yourself, insulin is thrusted through the blood to help lower blood glucose levels. While, after eating smaller meals the pancreas only releases little bursts of insulin. There is an enzyme, hydroxymethulglutaryl-coenzyme that is tied to cholesterol production and is activated in the liver when insulin is released. By eating smaller meals, this coenzyme is activated less and therefore less cholesterol is being synthesized and circulated in the blood.

Pathway showing how release of insulin affects cholesterol concentration in blood.

I found this article to be interesting, as a lay person never do we think much about how the number of meals we eat would effect our heart health. I think that this is something to think more about and it is especially important to remember that just because the nibbling group might be eating more meals, they are not eating more calories!  Another thing that I like about this review is that it DOES agree with the media's conclusion that smaller meals could be the healthiest way to eat. When I sat down to read the article, I was not expecting for it to arrive at the same conclusion. I think that eating frequency should be researched more to see if this could be a way for Doctors to treat CHD before reaching for the prescription pad.

Bhutani, Surabhi, and Krista A. Varady. "Nibbling versus Feasting: Which Meal Pattern Is Better for Heart Disease Prevention?" National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

"What Is Coronary Heart Disease?" National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. National Institute of Health, 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.