{"id":1916,"date":"2014-11-12T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/ask-will-should-we-eat-5-times-per-day.html"},"modified":"2016-09-19T11:18:48","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T15:18:48","slug":"ask-will-should-we-eat-5-times-per-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1916","title":{"rendered":"Ask Will: Should We Eat 5 Times Per Day?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dear Will,<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
Can you advise if eating five times throughout the day is better than eating three meals and no snacks?  <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
\u2026 I\u2019m wondering if I should eat three balanced meals instead.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
~Catherine<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

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Follow @willclower<\/span><\/a>

<\/span>Dear Catherine, <\/span>
Thank you so much for this question … and your intuition is spot on! <\/span>

<\/span>\u201cEat every three hours.\u201d Isn\u2019t that amazing advice? At some point, there were people in a room somewhere who said, \u201cHey, you know what? We have a colossal weight problem in this country with people who vastly overeat all the all the all the time. I have an idea, let\u2019s tell them to eat MORE often!\u201d <\/span>

<\/span>The advice to trade in our traditional 3 meal per day pattern for an eat every 3 hours pattern throws away the habits we practiced when we were much thinner (1958, obesity rate = 11%). Between then and now, we lost our way, distracted by the new theories that pop out of the clown car each January. <\/span>

<\/span>The new ideas can only distract us if they convince us that there\u2019s actually something real there (the mini meals idea is a perfect case-in-point). However, although there\u2019s a kernel of truth in the center of this little dietary sugar pill, that\u2019s about all because the evidence to support it is just not there. <\/span>

<\/span>Who is surprised by this, really? <\/span>

<\/span>Here is the rationale behind the multiple mini meal mistake: <\/b><\/span>
1.<\/b> <\/span>The act of eating revs your body\u2019s metabolism due to something called \u201cthe thermic effect of food\u201d, so you\u2019re burning more calories and therefore losing more weight. <\/span>
2.<\/b> <\/span>If you don\u2019t eat between meals, your body will go into a \u201cstarvation mode\u201d, hold onto all the fat it does have on board, and subvert your attempts to one day find yourself in smaller pants. <\/span>

<\/span>Yes, our aging metabolism may be turning into a slug over time, sliding into a complacent stupor day by sedentary day, but not snacking between meals is not what is driving it into the ground. Your metabolism may have 99 problems, but that ain\u2019t one. <\/span>

<\/span>
<\/span><\/a>Here\u2019s the kernel of truth <\/b><\/span>
The thermic effect of food is a real thing, and has been measured. But when you eat, the number of calories burned by consuming that food amounts to about 5 \u2013 15 percent of the total calories of the meal. The idea is that if you eat more frequently, you will keep up that calorie burn! <\/span>

<\/span>This sounds really great until you think about it in common sense terms. It\u2019s like you saying, \u201cThere\u2019s a 10% sale on at Macy\u2019s! I\u2019m going to buy more bed sheets and back to school supplies more often so I can save more money!\u201d Said in this way, the idea that you\u2019re going to save calories by eating more often is totally nonsensical. \u201cSpending to save\u201d is still spending, just like adding calories to burn calories is still adding on the calories. <\/span>

<\/span>Even worse for this latest new idea, smaller mini meals have a smaller effect on boosting metabolism as compared to a larger normal meal. And eating multiple mini meals also did not improve your body\u2019s ability to rev up your metabolism over time. <\/span>

<\/span>What about the dreaded starvation mode? <\/b><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

This is behind door number two \u2013 the idea that if you don\u2019t eat every three hours you will slip into this mode where your body thinks you are starving and holds on to all the fat you\u2019re trying to lose. But to achieve such a sad metabolic state of affairs, you would have to consume about 500 calories per day (that\u2019s all) for about 10 days straight in order to make this happen. <\/span>

<\/span>The idea that you can\u2019t make it all the way from breakfast to lunch without your metabolism going full DEFCON1 on you a) makes no sense, and b) has exactly zero research supporting it. <\/span>

<\/span>Not only does the multiple mini meal pattern not prevent the mythical starvation mode beast, but compared head-to-head with the normal 3 squares per day meal pattern, the multiple mini meal pattern does not increase basal metabolism. <\/span>

<\/span>Not.<\/span>

<\/span>By the way, eating those additional mini meals through the day turns out to be worse than fewer larger meals for lipid profiles in obese individuals and for blood sugar in Type 2 diabetics. <\/span>

<\/span>Worse. <\/span>

<\/span>The bottom line for your bottom lines<\/b><\/span>
What about the effect of this eating pattern on weight loss? There are definitely cases in which an individual lost weight doing this or some other diet du jour, but controlled studies indicate that it doesn\u2019t help most people control weight most of the time. <\/span>

<\/span>Again, yes, it\u2019s possible for one person to lose weight on the Krispy Kreme diet, the eat every 3 hours diet, or any other. However, if you had a ton of people do this diet, and you looked to see whether its weight loss effect was statistically significant (not a fluke), the answer would be \u2026 nope. <\/span>

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

So Catherine, your sense of things is exactly correct. People certainly can give this mini meal miracle a shot, and hope that they’re the exception to the rule and it actually works for them. <\/span>

<\/span>Alternatively, we can find an eating pattern that we know is associated with weight control. When we were thinner than we are today, no one ate every three hours with mini meals. At that time (in the main, in general, as a rule \u2026 you get my point), we ate 3 meals a day, portions weren’t gargantuan, and it was real food. <\/span>

<\/span>It’s my recommendation that we do that! Hope this helps.<\/span>

<\/span>Talk to you soon,<\/span>
Will<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Will, Can you advise if eating five times throughout the day is better than eating three meals and no snacks?   \u2026 I\u2019m wondering if I should eat three balanced … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494,281],"tags":[258,298,297],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-ask-will","tag-eating-behaviors","tag-fad-diets","tag-metabolism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-uU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1910,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1910","url_meta":{"origin":1916,"position":0},"title":"Ask Will: No Time To Eat At Work","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear WillI have no time to eat. No time. Like No.Time.To.Eat!\u00a0What do I do??Respectfully,No Time Is My PresentFollow @willclower\u00a0Dear No Time, Wouldn\u2019t it be great if we lived in a place where we had 2 \u00bd hours to eat our lunch? Wouldn\u2019t it be awesome if our happy world allowed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-jIVS0s2XhWk\/VGU9BUT1wsI\/AAAAAAAAD_8\/5O6ygMnENHA\/s320\/No%2BTime%2BTo%2BEat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2004,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2004","url_meta":{"origin":1916,"position":1},"title":"New Study: Eat Slow. You’ll Eat Less.","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"How many times have we said this?\u00a0The amount you're hungry for is only PARTIALLY due to calorie-debt. It's also about how FAST you eat it!\u00a0Two new studies (click here to see yourself) by researchers at the University of Rhode Island found that:\u00a0A) men eat significantly faster than women, B) heavier\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/HungryHungryHippos.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2670,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2670","url_meta":{"origin":1916,"position":2},"title":"Bottomless Bowls","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"WHY is it that larger portions = larger consumption.This GREAT article, from Dr. Brian Wansink, used self-refilling bowls to see how portions create consumption.I love psychologists because they're so sneaky. They gave one group of subjects soup bowls that, slowly and imperceptibly, refilled as their contents were consumed.Outcomes:The people who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Portions\"","block_context":{"text":"Portions","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?tag=portions"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2595,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2595","url_meta":{"origin":1916,"position":3},"title":"Vegetarian Concerns?","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Eating a vegetarian diet is one of the healthiest ways to go.But this article suggests that there may be some concerns you should watch out for, especially for your teenagers.According to this work in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, twice as many teens and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2174,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2174","url_meta":{"origin":1916,"position":4},"title":"Show Notes: Do We Eat Too Much Meat?","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am responding to an article (link below), written by Neil Barnard, who is the founder and President of the Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine.\u00a0This is the organization that tried to use Dr Robert Atkins' death as an opportunity to push their agenda regarding the consumption of meat. 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