Should we eat a greater number of meals per day in order to control our appetite and burn the belly fat and get rid of the extra weight? Has it been scientifically proven that intermittent fasting is beneficial for improving health and maintaining a fit body?
In a report published by the Spanish magazine "Quedati Plus", writer Joanna Guilin Valera said that many people believe that eating several meals during the day helps them lose weight more than 3 meals, because they see that in this way the metabolism process is accelerated and burning More calories, but is this true from a scientific point of view?
Number of meals and weight control
The author quotes Sarah Lopez Oliva, a dietitian at the Institute of Dietitians in Madrid, "The number of meals per day does not actually affect weight gain or loss. The times of eating are not as important as the quality of the food we eat."
"There is still great controversy regarding the number of meals per day, as there is not enough evidence to recommend reducing meals or eating more throughout the day," said Julia Ocon Breton, a dietitian at the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition.
Britton pointed out that a number of studies have shown that "eating two or 3 times a day can lead to weight loss just like eating 6 or more meals, because what determines weight loss is the number of calories that we eat throughout the day, regardless of what." If these calories are distributed over one meal or 10 meals. "
But she says that other studies concluded that "eating more meals a day can be more beneficial in maintaining a healthy body composition, compared to eating fewer meals, because it helps maintain muscle mass and leads to the production of adequate levels of glucose and triglycerides." Cholesterol and insulin. "
Britton adds that the basic principle behind this theory is that eating a greater number of meals per day leads to a feeling of satiety, and helps in opening the appetite and feeling hungry later, as well as avoiding overeating or snacking.
Lopez Oliva advises that each person follows his own diet, and determines by himself the number of daily meals, in a way that allows him to eat what he needs without reaching the point of losing control of himself, which can lead him to binge eating and consuming unhealthy meals.
Britton believes that the right method lies in obtaining the quantities that suit our needs, and distributing them at the pace that suits us on a daily basis, so that we can control appetite and meet the needs of the body.
Calories burned
Britton explains that the thermic effect of food "refers to the amount of calories our bodies use to absorb or digest the food we eat," meaning that "the body burns calories during the digestive process."
Within this process, "proteins are the nutrients that use the most energy in the metabolism process".
According to this principle, "it may seem that eating more meals leads to burning more calories, but the fact is that increasing the number of daily meals does not significantly improve the heat generation resulting from the diet," according to the Spanish specialist.
In other words, increasing the number of meals does not burn more calories, because "the number of calories burned to digest food depends more on the total number of daily calories and not on how they are distributed throughout the day."
How many meals a day?
Breton believes that it is not possible to determine the number of daily meals to maintain a healthy eating pattern, but according to the food tradition in Spain, she prefers the five-meal diet, taking care of breakfast, which has been shown to have health benefits, and that it helps to achieve nutritional balance, avoid hunger and improve performance during Today it contributes to weight loss. "
The Spanish specialist adds that the best way to lose weight is to reduce calories and increase physical effort through exercise as a way to burn additional calories in the body.
Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting depends on abstaining from eating for a few hours a day or a few days a week, while eating normally at the rest of the times.
The "intermittent fasting" diet for weight loss has been very popular in the world in recent years, but a recent American study has revealed the negative side of this type of diet.
The most common method is to abstain from eating for 16 consecutive hours, which may be interspersed with the nightly sleep period, after which food is eaten within 8 hours, which is known as intermittent fasting (16: 8), or it may be by abstaining from eating for 12 hours, And eating during the remaining 12 hours, which is known as intermittent fasting (12:12).
But despite the great popularity that this type of diet has gained, it is necessary to think carefully before undertaking this experiment, as a recent study revealed that intermittent fasting may reduce muscle mass, according to what was reported by Deutsche Welle.
In a study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, in the United States, it was found that intermittent fasting alone may not be better than others. While you think that it makes you lose some extra weight, in reality you may experience a significant loss of muscle mass.
Muscle loss
The researchers compared two groups of participants, one of which ate a regular diet (3 meals a day) and a snack, while the other group ate a limited amount of calories, which was restricted between noon and eight in the evening.
At the end of the study, which lasted for about 3 months, the researchers discovered that neither group showed a significant difference in terms of weight loss, fat mass, blood sugar control and cholesterol levels.
In short, it has been found that intermittent fasting does not improve metabolic health or weight loss.
About 65% of the total weight loss among the participants in the intermittent fasting group was muscle mass, which is much more than the amount of muscle mass a person would lose on a regular calorie-restricted diet, which would be around 20-30%.
That is why it is advised that before you decide to follow such strict measures in order to lose weight and lose extra kilos, you should think about changing the quality and quantity of what you eat to lose this extra weight and prevent muscle loss together.