There are more nutrition myths that we can think of and this one is probably one of the most widely known.
What is the myth?
This one has the idea and belief that eating a number of smaller, regular meals throughout the day will keep your metabolism fired up, which as a result will mean you burn more fat.
The misconception!
This seems to have stemmed from a misunderstanding of what is really going on. When we eat food, there is, in fact, an increase in our metabolic rate, this comes from the calories that we burn and use to digest the food that we have consumed (Thermic effect of food).
However, the number of calories we do burn from the process of digesting food is not as high as many think it is.
The Truth?
While there is an increase in our metabolism from digesting the food we eat, the idea that this is large enough increase to burn fat is not only wrong but can be potentially damaging and can lead to people gaining more weight.
But why?
The number of calories burnt when digesting food only equates to around 10% of total daily calorie expenditure, and to add salt to the wound, this number stays the same regardless of the number of meals we eat.
The difference between someone eating 6 meals or 3 meals is just the amount of times the metabolism will ‘spike’ from burning calories to digest food.
The ‘spikes’ from 3 meals will be larger but LESS frequent whilst the spikes from 6 meals will be small but MORE frequent.
When daily calories or equated for, the thermic effect is relative to the number of calories consumed, not relative to the number of meals consumed.
What about weight gain?
Increased meal frequency has been associated with rising obesity levels. How?? I hear you ask…
Well if you’re eating more meals throughout the day and with the belief that eating more frequently means you will burn more fat, you can easily forget to pay attention to the calorie intake of each meal and you’ve easily added more total calories to your day. Too many calories = weight gain.
So what should you do?
You are now probably thinking to yourself “that’s not what I wanted to read” or “what a waste of time”
But, before you leave and continue on with your day, this isn’t to say frequent eating doesn’t have any benefits or is completely pointless.
If you are someone who likes to eat regular meals, and you are constantly thinking about food, like me, small and more frequent meals are perfect for you. As long as you still pay attention to the daily calories.
Always remember!
Chose to do things because you choose to as opposed to doing something because you believe it holds some magical, unicorn, body changing properties…
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Wave goodbye to the fad diets and say hello to a leaner and more toned you!
Coach Brad