What is the optimal number of meals to increase fat burning or increase satiety?

Have you ever heard of the phrase "eating 6 meals a day instead of 3 meals to increase metabolic rates"? Have you ever heard of an instructor or nutritionist telling you that increasing the number of meals increases the feeling of fullness during dieting? Unfortunately, this advice is still widespread in Western nutrition and has begun to spread in the Arab world. In this article, we review the studies, research and personal experiences of the validity of these allegations, and explain to you the best number of meals to resist hunger during dieting and to burn better fat.

Why are so many small meals (6 meals) better than large limited meals (3 meals)?

The reason for these claims is the wrong understanding of the thermic effect of food. The thermal effect of food is a number of calories the body consumes to digest food. And are within 10% of the price of food (mixed meal of protein and carbohydrates and fats). In other words, if you eat 400 calories, your body consumes 40 calories to digest this meal.

Therefore, some nutritionist claims that the higher the number of meals, the higher the rates of thermal impact of food, and thus increase the metabolic rates of food throughout the day. This claim is clearly wrong because the amount of thermal effect of food depends on a number of calories consumed. If you eat 6 meals, the value of each meal is 500 calories, the thermal effect of TEF is like eating three large meals at 1000 calories per meal.

Scientists at the French Center of Medicine and Health have resisted a large number of studies of "the effect of the number of meals on metabolic rates"   and compared the burned energy rates to 24 hours with eating between one meal and 17 meals. The French scientists concluded that eating a small meal raises the metabolic rate of food in a small, and eating a large meal raises the metabolic rate of food more value, but at the end of the day, there is no difference or impact in the rates of total food metabolism.

In another study by Canadian scientists from the University of Ontario, volunteers were divided into two sections. Department has 3 meals and section has 6 meals, and both sections less than their daily needs of calories. The experiment lasted 16 volunteers for 8 weeks, and scientists found no significant difference in the amount of fat produced or lost muscle.

 
Does increasing the number of meals lead to increased satiety during dieting?

There are also claims that eating a small meal every two or three hours is better to eliminate hunger than eating 3 large meals. The University of Missouri conducted a study on 27 obese men. And placed them on a diet for 12 weeks. The researchers found that increasing the amount of protein leads to the increased sense of satiety. The number of meals (3 or 6) has no effect on hunger or satiety.

D Other conducted by the University of Kansas head to see the effect of the number of meals and the amount of protein on the levels of hunger and hormonal changes for victims of obesity. The study also found that increased protein intake increased the sense of satiety. Surprisingly, they found that eating 3 large meals increases satiety more than 6 small meals.

Are there any benefits of eating fewer meals?

The fact that there are many studies conducted on intermittent fasting. And fasting for food for 8-16 hours a day, whether fasting or fasting for religious reasons (Ramadan). And many of these studies proved the benefits of fasting to improve the sensitivity of insulin and reduce the high blood glucose. There is also a " note" and not a study that found that the incidence of colorectal cancer (the 4 largest fatal cancer) increased by 90% with 4 servings compared with 2 servings. But this is an observation that does not count as evidence that multiple meals are harmful. But I saw it as a noteworthy observation on this subject.

So what is the best number of meals to burn fat?

First, when designing a diet, the primary should be developed to take optimal proportions of protein, carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids. These factors are 100 times more important than eating times or the number of meals. So the optimal number of meals is the number that fits your lifestyle. Your diet should help you stick to it for as long as possible. The more appropriate a diet, the more you stick to it. I personally take between 2 or 3 meals a day, mostly in the evenings. This is because I am busy all day and I do not have time to prepare food during the day. Also, eating large meals in the evening to help me more comfortable sleep. As I have read in studies, the best strategies to reduce the sense of hunger are to increase the amount of protein.