Meal Frequency, Metabolism, Appetite, and Blood Sugar

February 10th, 2014 by

Here are a couple nutritional tidbits from Alan Aragon:

“Smaller, more frequent meals do not speed metabolism compared to the same total calories & macros consumed in larger, less frequent meals. Objective research has shown this repeatedly in tightly controlled, opinion-free conditions:
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11319656
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1905998”

And further to that…

“Smaller, more frequent meals are not reliably more effective than larger, less frequent meals when it comes to controlling appetite and blood sugar. Again, don’t take my word for it, look at the scientific evidence:
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22719910”

So if you want to consume smaller, more frequent meals because you prefer that then you can, but you certainly don’t have to.

The overriding factor for fat loss is that you must consume fewer calories then you burn (i.e., be in a calorie deficit). The number and frequency of meals is largely a matter of personal preference.