Meal Frequency Doesn’t Help to Lose Body Fat – Studies

Making a diet with the so-called bulking does not require serious tactical decisions. Excess calorie content, the appropriate amount of calories and sleep – in other words, eat, sleep, train, and grow. When solving inverse problems (reducing fat mass), the most difficult is appetite control. Nutrition in small portions, rare meal frequency, but plentiful meals or periodic fasting – which is more effective?

Studies about meal frequency

Three of the above and a dozen more possible options for catering will have supporters and opponents. Studies have shown that with fixed calorie content and nutrients ratios, meal frequency does not matter.

No change in metabolic rate follows when changing the number of meals. The metabolic rate in the case of energy deficiency is affected by the percentage of this deficiency itself. Trying to change the ratio of muscle to fat mass in the direction of the first, we are struggling with the survival mechanisms established by nature.

Probably, individuals with a large percentage of fat and not significant muscle mass survived in the process of evolution, because it (muscle mass) is expensive to maintain, and survival is a cost-saving. There is no difference whether you eat two or six times a day, refuse food for 12 hours or eat by the hour.

Why do people see changes when taking up split eating?

Why do we see changes in body weight during the transition from split eating to rarer and vice versa? Because depending on the nutrition tactics you choose, you unconsciously or consciously change the amount of food eaten, which is reflected in a change in the calorie content of your diet.

Of course, you will hear the assurances of your friends who, having switched to split nutrition, have received remarkable results. So – they just began to eat less and isn’t this a diet with a calorie deficit.

To summarize. The calorie content of your diet is quantitative, the ratio of nutrients is qualitative, and the distribution of meals is a tactical issue that should not affect the chosen strategy. By the way, the question of more frequent eating on health is not as clear as it is commonly believed.

Additionally, see what it is better to eat before a morning workout.

What is more, we’ve prepared an answer on whether it is possible to stretch the stomach by overeating.