Three square meals or six?

Charlyn Fargo, Contributor

Is it better to eat three square meals, or six smaller meals per day? Dieters have believed the six smaller meals will help them lose weight, but new research finds that eating fewer, regular-sized meals with higher amounts of lean protein can make one feel more full than eating smaller, more frequent meals.

Researchers at Purdue University found that when eating high amounts of protein, men who were trying to lose weight felt fuller throughout the day. They also experienced a reduction in late-night desire to eat and had fewer thoughts of food, according to lead researcher, Heather Leidy, an assistant professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri who was a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue for this study. Findings were published in the April issue of the journal, Obesity.

Appetite control

Researchers also found that despite the common trend of eating smaller, more frequent meals, eating frequency had relatively no beneficial impact on appetite control. The larger meals led to reductions in appetite and people felt full. But we want to emphasise that these three larger meals were restricted in calories and reflected appropriate portion sizes to be effective in weight loss.

They credit the extra protein in helping to control appetite and boosting a feeling of fullness. In the study, egg and lean pork were incorporated into breakfast and lunch. While the study was small - 27 obese and overweight men were divided into a high-protein group and a normal-protein group - the findings should apply to others. All the men in the study consumed a calorie-restricted diet for 12 weeks, which was 750 calories less than their normal diet - an average of about 2,400 calories per person. The amount of protein varied between each group.

High-protein diet

The normal-protein diet was composed of 14 per cent of energy from proteins, 60 per cent from carbohydrates and 26 per cent from fat. And the high-proteins diet had the same amount of fat, but it had 25 per cent of energy from protein and 49 per cent from carbohydrates. Eating frequency was also tested because it is a common belief that eating more frequent, smaller meals a day can lead to weight loss.

Eating frequency was determined by starting at week seven for three days. Participants consumed the same number of calories but with a different distribution: three times a day by eating every five hours, or six times a day eating every two hours. The large meals were about 750 calories each. Consumed every two hours, the smaller meals were estimated at about 375 calories each. Participants also recorded their feelings about hunger and feeling full on a time-stamped electronic device every waking hour.

Researchers found the higher-protein group experienced greater fullness throughout the day. Leidy said they also found more individuals struggled with complying with consuming six meals a day. Of those in the study who were not compliant, 90 per cent were unable to follow the six-meal-a-day eating pattern.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian at the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.