How Many Meals? Does it Matter?

I always have loved snack time, ever since we got animal crackers and apple juice in kindergarten. My love for snacks has carried through into my college life, grabbing small snacks between classes and club meetings. It does not help that my schedule on Mondays,Wednesday, Fridays is a complete opposite than Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I am sure to build in snack times and break up my food into smaller meals through out the day to make sure that I stay satiated.

I wanted to learn more about if the quantity of meals eaten through out the day had an impact on health and if eating smaller meals more often changed any health outcomes. The idea that eating more smaller meals about five or six times a day instead of eating three larger meals every day stems from the idea that by eating more frequently your metabolism running and your body will consistently be using food for energy, and that this consistent stream of calories will give your metabolism a boost! This idea is promoted through most media sources and is even promoted by Dr. Oz. Just a simple google search will give you hundreds of articles that either support or oppose increasing meal frequency.



Now, many of these articles are not coming from the most reputable sources scuh as Born Fitness, which is a site that is marketed towards men looking for weight loss and work out tips. Others, are slightly more relevant sources such as US News and World Health Report. However there is still scientific evidence lacking from a simple google search.

Enter me, you can call me the snacking sleuth. For the next five blog posts, I will be working to unravel the myth of how much and how often one should eat to maximize health outcomes. Before we get to the hardcore science though, let's try to better understand what is out there today.

Let's take a look at what the "typical" google search result comes up with. One of the pop-science articles that I found is from a wellness blog called FitWatch. The blog describes how by making the choice to eat smaller meals more often, that our digestive system will begin to burn calories more effectively than when we are eating larger meals. The author of the FitWatch blog claims that by eating smaller meals, our energy level will not drop. Another claim that the author makes is that by eating more often, the frequency of our cravings will decrease because our blood sugar levels will not rise and fall. Keep in mind, none of this blog references any research, however once the reader does finish reading the post, the author suggests that you use her calculator to see how many calories you should eat in 5-6 meals. Even though I do practice snacking or grazing, I really wanted to examine the different sides of the myth. For example in Jillian Michael's blog, she argues that by eating smaller meals, you will never burn any fat and your body will continually creating insulin.

After looking through countless fitness blogs, I came across one realization. That none of these articles (even the ones from more reputable sources) were all centered around weight loss and none of them even considered other health benefits. I thought that this perfectly described America's fascination with having the perfect body image and not actually thinking about what consequences their actions have on their health. I am interested to see if breaking up larger meals into snacks has an effect on heart disease, insulin sensitivity and overall health. Because, sure losing weight is great but preventing heart disease is even better in my book! Stay tuned to find out if you should become a snacker like me!

So which is it? Is your metabolism never stopping better? Or is letting your body use fat for energy the key to health?

References:

Bornstein, Adam. "Big Meals vs. Small Snacks: What's Best for You?" Born Fitness. N.p., 28 Jan. 2014.   Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

"Calories Per Meal Calculator." - Divide Your Daily Calories into Several Different Meals. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

"Chicken Breasts with Mustard Vinaigrette, Roasted Asparagus, and Carrots." Domestifluff. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

"Dr. Oz's 6-Meal Plan." Dr. Oz's 6-Meal Plan. The Dr. Oz Show, 2 Sept. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

"How Eating More Often Can Help You Eat Less." FitWatch. N.p., 22 Jan. 2009. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

"Hungry Girls Carrot Sticks!" Keep It Simple. N.p., 09 June 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Freuman, Tamara Duker. "What You Eat Matters. Does When You Eat Matter, Too?" US News and World Report. N.p., 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

"Myth Buster - Is Eating Small Meals the Key to Weight Loss? - JillianMichaels.com." JillianMichaels.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.