Let’s talk about MEAL FREQUENCIES.
By our definition at REVEAL a meal frequency is any time you eat or drink something that has calories.
Let’s get any confusion out of the way right now.
Brad Schoenfeld
Mediterranean might be one of the best-studied nutritional lifestyles out there when you look at longevity. Yes there’s community, relationships/family, daily movement, and management of stress that all play into that long life so lets not give our food too much power, it’s just a small part of the bigger picture. #zoomout
But too much food is too much food as it can lead to obesity, chronic health issues and most diseases that are actually within our control.
“Genetics load the gun; Environment pulls the trigger.”
Let’s take a look at some of the research on meal frequencies and its association to one’s health and weight loss.
Conclusions/interpretation
“Eating only breakfast and lunch reduced body weight, HFC, fasting plasma glucose, C-peptide and glucagon, and increased OGIS, more than the same caloric restriction split into six meals. These results suggest that, for type 2 diabetic patients on a hypo-energetic diet, eating larger breakfasts and lunches may be more beneficial than six smaller meals during the day.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4079942/
Late night snacking and Sleep
Numerous observational studies have reported that nighttime eating is associated with reduced sleep duration and poor sleep quality, 61, 62 which can lead to insulin resistance and increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer
It is well known that in humans, even a single fasting interval (e.g., overnight) can reduce basal concentrations of metabolic biomarkers associated with chronic disease such as insulin and glucose.
In addition, research is needed to test whether these regimens can complement or replace energy restriction and if so, whether they support long-term weight management.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4516560/
“When on 1 meal/day the subjects would have eaten less than those on 3 meals/day if we had not asked them to consume the same amount of food that they normally eat on a 3 meal/d schedule. When rodents are subjected to an alternate day fasting regimen, their overall calorie intake is decreased by 10–30% and they maintain a lower body weight than animals on an ad libitum control diet, and exhibit increased insulin sensitivity and decreased blood pressure [11, 25].
Similarly, when maintained on an alternate day calorie restriction diet over a 2 month period, human subjects lost weight and exhibited improved cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk profiles [28]. In the latter study the subjects ate only 400–500 calories on CR days, which resulted in a reduction in plasma leptin levels and an elevation of β-hydroxybutyrate levels only on the CR days, but sustained decreases in plasma insulin levels suggesting improved insulin sensitivity.
Collectively, the available data therefore suggest that meal skipping or intermittent CR diets can result in health benefits including improved glucose regulation, but only if there is an overall reduction in energy intake.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2121099/
“Individuals can lose body weight and improve health status on a wide range of energy (calorie)-restricted dietary interventions.
In this paper, we have reviewed the effectiveness of the most commonly utilized diets, including low-fat, low-carbohydrate, and Mediterranean approaches, in addition to commercial slimming programs, meal replacements, and newly popularized intermittent fasting diets.
We also consider the role of artificial sweeteners in weight management. Low-fat diets tend to improve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol the most, while lower-carbohydrate diets may preferentially improve triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
However, differences between diets are marginal. Weight loss improves almost all obesity-related co-morbidities and metabolic markers, regardless of the macronutrient composition of the diet, but individuals do vary in preferences and ability to adhere to different diets. Optimizing adherence is the most important factor for weight loss success, and this is enhanced by regular professional contact and supportive behavioral change programs.
Maintaining weight losses in the long term remains the biggest challenge, and is undermined by an “obesogenic” environment and biological adaptations that accompany weight loss.”
