To lose weight, eating many small meals a day is not as important as the principle of controlling calorie intake to be lower than calories burned.
In recent years, experts have suggested that eating small, close meals may be the best way to prevent chronic disease and lose weight. Proponents claim that this eating pattern can boost metabolism, prevent energy crashes, help stabilize blood sugar, and reduce overeating.
However, the experts of Medical News Today said that the diet for the day depends on your body condition and weight goals. Eating small meals is not necessarily good for metabolism in some cases.
A study of 2,700 volunteers showed that people who ate at least 6 meals a day were able to limit their calorie intake, consume healthy foods, and have a lower body mass index than those who ate less than 4 meals a day. However, experts say the small meal diet does not significantly affect metabolism and total calories burned.
“People used to think that if you eat more meals, your calorie intake goes down, your calories go up. But controlled experiments in humans have shown that for the same amount of calories, 12 meals isn’t good either. than eating three or four meals a day,” said David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University.
Carla Wolper, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant at the New York Institute of Nutrition and Obesity, also says meal frequency has no effect on metabolic rate, so there is no direct effect on weight loss. losing weight. Some studies have even shown that eating less than three meals a day may be the best way to control calorie intake.
“If you reduce the number of times you eat, the total calories will go down. People often think that if you don’t eat breakfast, you will eat too much at other times of the day. But this is not the case. It is true that the amount of food increases. up, but not by as much as you missed in the morning,” said Professor Levitsky.
However, the results of the study do not mean that they recommend skipping breakfast or reducing the number of meals a day. When and how often to eat depends on many factors.
For people with chronic diseases, experts recommend eating small meals. Increasing the frequency of meals, and reducing the amount of food per meal can improve blood lipid (fat) levels, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
For many years, scientists have shown that people who eat small meals have more stable cholesterol levels than people who eat less than three meals a day. Research shows that eating four or more meals a day increases HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, also known as good cholesterol, and lowers fasting triglycerides. High levels of HDL help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
For those who have difficulty with portion control, aka preference eating, sticking to three meals is more beneficial. The diet helps control the amount of food in a day.
“Scientific evidence shows that humans are hobbyists (opportunistic eaters), which means that if allowed to eat, we will eat more. Just eliminate the snacks and the food. lightweight, the total calorie intake will decrease, lower than the calories expended, helping to lose weight, “Professor Levitsky explained.
According to him, if people still want to eat many small meals, people need to calculate the number of calories they need to eat each day and divide the meals evenly. For example, a person who needs to load 1,500 calories can eat 5 meals of 300 calories each. However, this is quite difficult.
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