Meal Frequency and Health in Adults

The idea of eating more frequently to help lose weight and increase metabolic health is a novel one, and many are on the fence about whether or not it works. Understandably so, eating less frequently logically makes sense as a way to promote weight loss and better health. However, the way that your body processes and uses nutrients in food when its intakes are more spread apart and it is eating bulkier meals. According to her article about the effect of eating frequency on appetite control, Heather Leidy states that “reduction in eating frequency (<3 meals/day) appears to negatively influence appetite control,” meaning subjects are more likely to feel hungry throughout the day, increasing the likelihood of snacking.

Eating more frequently however, has been shown to reduce the possibility of wanting to snack afterwards. In Corinne Marmonier’s article, “Metabolic and behavioral consequences of a snack consumed in a satiety state,” she states that, “A snack consumed in a satiety state fails to prolong the intermeal interval and would thus tend to favor storage.” This means that if someone who is full eats a snack, the body will not be able to absorb and process all of its nutrients, as they are already full after their meal. If one were to change their diet to eat more meals in a day, their body will feel less hungry and have less of an urge to snack.

Diets are very fragile, meaning they can change from day to day, and the slightest variation can have tremendous consequences, good or bad, to one’s health. This is illustrated in Didier Chapelot’s article, “Consequence of Omitting or Adding a Meal in Man on Body Composition, Food Intake, and Metabolism,” when he found that, “adiposity may increase when young lean male subjects switch from a four- to a three-meal pattern by removing their usual afternoon meal,” only further expanding the reasoning to as why eating more frequently is more beneficial to overall health than less frequent eating.

Another argument against higher meal frequency is that it all comes down to caloric intake. It is one simple equation: calories in minus calories out. However, in a study called “The relationship between frequency of eating and adiposity in adult men and women in the Tecumseh Community Health Study,” author HL Metzner states, “the effect of caloric intake showed that frequency of eating was related inversely to the adiposity index for men and women separately with statistical significance at the 1% level.” In simpler terms, this means that when you eat has an effect on your caloric intake, in other words, eating 2000 calories right when you wake up or right before you go to bed is not the same as eating four 500 calorie meals throughout the day.

Since meal timing matters so much, some may pose the argument that diet is not a one size fits all kind of issue to solve, everyone is different when it comes to what they eat, when they eat it, and how often they eat. Amy Hutchinson states in her article “Metabolic impacts of altering meal frequency and timing – Does when we eat matter?” that, although seemingly counterintuitive, “Epidemiological reports have shown a favorable relationship between increased meal frequency, weight and metabolic health,” meaning one is at less risk for obesity, and has a lower chance of getting some sort of metabolic disease that can affect their overall health later down the road.

One important idea to keep in mind during all of this is that caloric intake is staying the same, whether someone is eating two meals per day or six. When looking at meal consumption frequency in adults in his article about isocaloric increases in eating episodes, Xavier Allirot states that:

The present study supports the cause that the isocaloric increase of eating frequency may contribute to improving appetite control by reducing hunger, decreasing ghrelin concentration and increasing GLP-1 concentration in normal weight men.

This explains that not only does an increased meal consumption frequency help promote weight loss, reduce the risk of obesity, and improve overall metabolic health, but it also allows your body to use more macronutrients in foods, absorb nutrients better, and increase chemicals your body needs while reducing chemicals it does not.

References

Allirot, X., Saulis, L., Seyssel, K., Graeppie-Dulac, J., Roth, H., Charrie, A., Goudable, J., Blond, E., Disse, E., & Laville, M. (2013, January 17). An isocaloric increase of eating episodes in the morning contributes to decrease energy intake at lunch in lean men. Science Direct. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938413000243 

Chapelot, D., Marmonier, C., Aubert, R., Allegre, C., Fantino, M., & Louis-Sylvestre, J. (2012, September 6). Consequence of Omitting or Adding a Meal in Man on Body Composition, Food Intake, and Metabolism. Wiley Online Library. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2006.28 

Leidy, H. J., & Campbell, W. W. (2010, December 1). The Effect of Eating Frequency on Appetite Control and Food Intake: Brief Synopsis of Controlled Feeding Studies. Academic.oup.com. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/141/1/154/4630606    

Marmonier, C., Chapelot, D., & Louis-Syvestre, J. (1999, November 1). Metabolic and behavioral consequences of a snack consumed in a satiety state. Academic.oup.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/70/5/854/4729128#111368131 

Metzner, H. L., Lamphiear, D. E., Wheeler, N. C., & Larkin, F. A. (1977, May 1). The relationship between frequency of eating and adiposity in adult men and women in the Tecumseh Community Health Study. Academic.oup.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/30/5/712/4650179