You don't need to eat 6 meals per day

[Stork]

Repost from the teen section, am interested in hearing what you guys think.



Turns out the age-old myth people have been peddling for all these years isn't all that accurate. Although high meal frequency has it's benefits (discussed below), it's really not as big a deal as people make out[1][2]. Without forcing you to read the references, I'm gonna summarize:
The thermic effect of food (TEF from now on) is the positive effect of food consumption on your metabolism - meaning that when you eat, you burn a little more energy since it takes work to digest food. People said that eating more smaller meals would have a higher TEF and therefore burn more calories than one large meal. Turns out it isn't true, since TEF depends on how many calories you intake, not how often you intake them - 1000 calories in one meal vs two meals of 500 calories will have the same effect (check out the referenced links for cited studies). Thinking about it logically, why would it make sense that smaller meals take more energy to digest than larger ones? The same amount of work is being done in either case, so to reiterate: it's total calories that matters, regardless of how you split it up.

Why frequent eating can be useful

• It tends to work for newbies because it introduces the idea of portion control, balancing macronutrients, and counting calories, something that the untrained person hasn't done before - obviously introducing these things is gonna see results, regardless of meal frequency.
• If you're a 300lbs off-season bodybuilder trying to bulk up with 6,000 calories per day, it's probably easier on your digestion to do six meals of 1,000 cals instead of three meals of 2,000. This could apply to some ectomorph teens trying to bulk with low appetites.
• It can help keep your blood sugar stable, which might be a big concern for some people (side-note: there are other ways to keep your blood sugar stable if you're having problems with it, consider a low carb diet).

Negatives of frequent eating

• You might find yourself spending most of your life in the kitchen.
• You might also find yourself bringing tupperware boxes full of grilled chicken and brown rice every time you leave the house.
• You'll probably be buying expensive protein bars and powders to make up meals since you're too lazy to cook six times per day.
• It can increase your dependence on food, once your body is used to eating six times per day it can make life pretty uncomfortable if you miss a meal.
• Eating every three hours on the dot is a bloody nuisance.

Calorie counting is still King!
By no means am I saying in this post that you should throw your diet to the wind and just eat whatever. It still remains that the total number of calories (and of course macros) you eat will dictate your results, so you still need to worry about how much you're eating, but not so much about when you're doing it, get it?

Conclusions?
Leave the tupperware boxes at home, and eat a bigger meal before you leave the house. Don't let makin' gainz get in the way of having a life
Incidentally, you might want to look up intermittent fasting if you're cutting or maintaining, it's good stuff.

References:
1. http://leangains.blogspot.com/2008/0...ming-book.html
2. http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008...ur-metabolism/
3. http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008...olism-part-ii/


Cliffs:
You probably don't need to be eating as often as you are.



Questions, comments?

[snorkelman]

We already know that you don't need 6 meals a day, but thanks for educating the teens.

[rakmm1]

Good stuff!

I love the thought of being able to eat 3 or 4 times a day instead of 7. One other small concern - eating less often means bigger meals, which could certainly stretch your stomach out a bit and make it look like you have more of a "gut". That is one benefit of smaller meals more often, although I agree they are a major pain in the a$$ most of the time!

[dimasso69]

Originally Posted by snorkelman

but thanks for educating the teens.

Hey! lol..i knew that too, and im a teen.
Good informative post OP

[Al Swearengen]

actually the original reason behind 6 meals or more a day didn't stem from anything other than the fact that pros in training and on anabolics consume so many calories a day that 6 meals is minimum unless consuming 3000 cals in one sitting is your thing which for most it isn't and will cause major bloating. lulz thread fail

[Ian_B]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

actually the original reason behind 6 meals or more a day didn't stem from anything other than the fact that pros in training and on anabolics consume so many calories a day that 6 meals is minimum unless consuming 3000 cals in one sitting is your thing which for most it isn't and will cause major bloating. lulz thread fail

Well it did eventually mutate into the belief that eating more often increases one's total TEF.

[Renst77]

Doesn't your body have a limit to the amount of protein it can utilize in a short period of time? Excess would be used for energy or eventually end up converted to glucose and stored (no idea, really).

And yes, eating a large meal will stretch out your stomach, and when that stretched-out stomach is empty the next day, the result is hunger pangs, which can result in binging. It's one reason people with eating disorders have such a hard time reducing calories at the start of a diet. I never get hunger pangs when eating 5-6 meals/day, even when cutting.

[double gonad]

Originally Posted by Renst77

And yes, eating a large meal will stretch out your stomach, and when that stretched-out stomach is empty the next day, the result is hunger pangs

A stretched out stomach causes hunger pangs? And here I thought it was a hormonal response. Silly me.

[ErickStevens]

Redundancy, yay!

[Rockfella]

WTF is going on, everday i get to know a new damn thing! FA, i will see to what my body responds well and stick with that ****ing plan!

[Renst77]

Originally Posted by double gonad

A stretched out stomach causes hunger pangs? And here I thought it was a hormonal response. Silly me.

Hunger pangs are contractions of the stomach due to hormone changes. Those contractions are exacerbated by stretching the tissues. Someone who never eats large meals MAY never experience hunger pangs, like me. Some always do. Something similar happens to some people who have had their stomach stapled. I would encourage you to try it before you jump all over the new guy - I'm just trying to contribute my experience.

[JesusSukdAtLife]

i eat 7 meals a day mainly to supply a steady stream of nutrients and protein to my muscles. Is this not a benefit? or does waiting 4 hours between meals have the same effect?

[mavstud3]

I think spreading your meals out has more to do with making sure your blood sugar levels dont drop like they probably would if you eat 5 plus hours apart....

[A_Hard_Rain]

You don't need to, but there's nothing wrong with it at all. You're making it sound like it's a bad thing, either works as long as you get the calories in.

[Opies]

they both work...

I believe there are a couple studies in terms of protein that show it may be better to eat a few large amounts of protein throughout the day rather than many small portions. I may be mistaken though

There really is no difference between eating 2, or 22 meals a day. Whatever works best for your body and your lifestyle is what you should do.

AlanAragon
With little exception [7,8], the majority of controlled intervention trials show no improvement in body composition with a higher meal frequency, with treatments ranging from 1 to 9 meals per day [9-11,15].

[X-TRAsmedium]

all the negatives you listed are use the words 'might' or 'probably' in them. i dont have any input as to which is better (moar small meals or fewer large meals) but someone who is dedicated to exercise and nutrition like some of us here at bb.com, preparing meals is not that much of an inconvienence.

[Opies]

Originally Posted by X-TRAsmedium

all the negatives you listed are use the words 'might' or 'probably' in them. i dont have any input as to which is better (moar small meals or fewer large meals) but someone who is dedicated to exercise and nutrition like some of us here at bb.com, preparing meals is not that much of an inconvienence.

Whether or not it is inconvenient does not change the fact that frequency is irrelevant.

[darvoz]

Eating 6 or 10 times a day demands on your metablism and what kind of food it is and whether it's quality/quantity OR both and ultimate that depends on what your goals are, bulking or cutting stages.

You can't just say, you dont need 6 meals a day, well DUH!

I like to spread smaller to medium sized health natural meals throughout the day so eating 6 to 10 times a day is ideal for me (although, not every day) sometimes you might eat 3 times a day then 6 the next. However for the most part eating this many times a day one would assume that your ona bulk, thinnish build anyway and a fast metabalism.

[mavstud3]

I think spreading your meals out has more to do with making sure your blood sugar levels dont drop like they probably would if you eat 5 plus hours apart....Lets face it..if you just have breakfast, lunch, and dinner all spaced out then your blood sugar levels will drop...

[Opies]

Originally Posted by mavstud3

I think spreading your meals out has more to do with making sure your blood sugar levels dont drop like they probably would if you eat 5 plus hours apart....Lets face it..if you just have breakfast, lunch, and dinner all spaced out then your blood sugar levels will drop...

yes... and then your body will increase blood sugar through catabolic processes... like it always does...

[burgerboy]

this is good. i'm sure there's plenty of folks who haven't seen this.

[darvoz]

Eat many times throughout the day in smaller sizes and it is quality that is important.

[Joelift]

Eat when you're hungry... duh.

[fxtrader777]

OK, Question

As I know you can absorb no more than 30-35gram of protein for each meal. so eating much on one meal is not it wasted proteins?

If you must eat at least 200 gram of protein it is over 70 gram of protein for each meal (If ieating three time a day), so how can you absorb all that amount?

second question, I think it is not good for stomach to fill to the end? isn't it? So eating 6 times a day is healthier no?

[dimasso69]

Originally Posted by Joelift

Eat when you're hungry... duh.

yes this works for me...but i eat when im hungry till im full..then some

[Hudacris]

Originally Posted by fxtrader777

As I know you can absorb no more than 30-35gram of protein for each meal.

SMH

Honestly, Where do people get this sh*t?

[Analyst]

Originally Posted by fxtrader777

OK, Question

As I know you can absorb no more than 30-35gram of protein for each meal. so eating much on one meal is not it wasted proteins?

If you must eat at least 200 gram of protein it is over 70 gram of protein for each meal (If ieating three time a day), so how can you absorb all that amount?

second question, I think it is not good for stomach to fill to the end? isn't it? So eating 6 times a day is healthier no?

This is also not true, and in fact, the idea that you can only absorb a small amount of protein at one sitting probably came from the idea of eating multiple meals throughout the day (and dividing up the protein among those meals).

First of all, food you eat isn't digested instantly -- it takes from 1 to 3 days to move through your digestive system.

Second, studies have found no difference in body composition for subjects who get their daily protein in multiple meals throughout the day, or in one large dose.

And if you think about it, only being able to absorb 20-50 grams of protein at a time would have been quite the survival disadvantage for ancestors who might have only gotten to eat a lot of protein when a hunt was successful.

I would bet if you eat 1400 grams of protein on Sunday and none the rest of the week, some of it will go to "waste" and it won't be the equivalent of eating 200 grams every day. But on daily terms, your body seems to have no problem absorbing protein however you consume it.

As far as healthier is concerned, yeah, I would think trying to consume 200 grams of protein in one sitting wouldn't make for the most comfortable experience. But the take-away message is that you have a lot of flexibility in daily eating, without damaging your goals.

[ErickStevens]

Originally Posted by fxtrader777

OK, Question
As I know you can absorb no more than 30-35gram of protein for each meal. so eating much on one meal is not it wasted proteins?

Somebody check this man into Brohab, stat. You can absorb plenty more.

[IraHays]

Supplement companies pump up the 6 meals a day thing because if you are eating that often you will most likely be using one of their products as meal replacement.

[Rockfella]

Honestly Does anyone know how much prot can we digest @ a time???