Meal timing and Frequency

There is a lot of information surrounding timing of meals and how often you should eat. I know that years ago I used to preach the old ‘eat regularly to boost your metabolism’. And the old phrase ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ has been around since forever!

Being an Evidence Based Nutritionist I am excited to share the truth with you. So, what does the evidence say?

I will break it down into two parts- the focus for fat loss and the focus for muscle gain.

When it comes to fat loss, it is the overall net energy balance that will determine if you lose fat. This means if calories are set to create a deficit and equated in both instances, you will lose body fat regardless of whether you eat 6 times a day or once a day (shock, horror).

“We conclude that increasing meal frequency does not promote greater body weight loss” – Cameron et al. (2010)

This then also outdates the old ‘never skip breakfast’, which by the way was coined by cereal manufacturers! Meaning, if you habitually skip breakfast, it will not be detrimental to your metabolism or fat loss if you create an overall calorie deficit.

What about cognitive function if you skip breakfast? Won’t your brain not fire on all cylinders?

The answer is no.

“There was no statistically significant improvement in task performance” The effect of breakfast versus no breakfast on brain activity in adolescents when performing cognitive tasks as assessed by MRI- Fulford et al. (2015)

What does this all mean? It means that you should structure your meals throughout the day in a way that suits your personality, preferences, and lifestyle, so that it allows you to enjoy its ease and make adherence easy.

When it comes to muscle gain, the research shows us that 4-6 meals per day is optimal for protein distribution to ensure that a positive nitrogen balance is maintained, and muscle protein synthesis can be triggered.

This means that constantly sipping on BCAAS or having more protein meals is not actually necessary. The anabolic response to protein feedings is a transient process and once enough protein is provided to saturate the muscle, the ‘muscle full’ effect takes place.

There also needs to be a point where amino acids come back down because the muscle becomes refractory to stimulation despite sustained elevations of amino acids.

“The results suggest that MPS responds rapidly to increased availability of amino acids but then is inhibited, despite continued amino acid availability” Bohe et al. (2001)

Your best bet is to optimise the type of protein you consume at each meal to ensure that it contains enough leucine (2.5g-3g per meal) to trigger MPS rather than focusing on lots of protein meals per day.

I know I would rather have 3-4 meals and a protein shake than 8 small protein meals per day. But do what works for you, remembering the above guidelines to optimise muscle growth.

I hope this has allowed you to feel more relaxed around how often and when you eat.