Have you been told you should eat smaller meals, more frequently throughout the day?
They say it keeps your protein levels up.
They say it keeps you more full.
They say you burn more calories because you’re constantly digesting.
But here’s the deal:
You shouldn’t be constantly digesting food. Your body needs time to process it. Eating frequently can actually cause gut health issues.
As far as protein goes, as long as your daily total is where it should be, it doesn’t really matter how often you’re eating it. Plus, who is really snacking on chicken? Most people are snacking on…. sources of food that are NOT primarily protein.
And then there’s the “it keeps you more full” argument.
I’ve found that when people start doing the “snacking” thing, it causes two things:
1. It causes you to have constantly elevated levels of insulin. Chronically elevated levels of insulin causes weight gain. If you didn’t see the last blog post on this topic, click here.
2. It messes with their hunger cues. When we are constantly giving our body food, our brain becomes conditioned to think we’re hungry.
One study has even shown that when eating the same amount of total calories, individuals lost more weight when eating ALL of those calories only in 1 meal/day as opposed to 3.
Moral of the story is that nibbling is not better.
If your schedule allows, eat a maximum of 3 nutrient dense meals.
If you’re super busy, it’s better to eat 2 very large, very dense meals than to skip meals all together and just nibble throughout the day.
Do you have another topic that you aren’t sure if it’s truth or fiction?
Email katie@evolvefitnessclearwater.com and we’ll feature it in the next post!