Frequently eating small meals can be harmful to your health. A change in diet leads to an instant reorganization of intestinal bacteria. Why the benefits of fractional nutrition are a myth
Pretty much every "fitness guru" touts these completely ridiculous eating patterns...
... "Make six small meals a day and you will accelerate your metabolism" ...
... "Eat several times a day to stay in an anabolic state and preserve muscle"...
... “Never skip breakfast! This is the healthiest meal of the day!”
Well, let me tell you one thing that is scientifically proven and not without real common sense:
Fractional nutrition will not affect your metabolic rate and muscle growth in any way, the effect of such a scheme is no different from eating several large meals.
All these tips about "several small meals a day" nothing more than a simple joke, and the reason why the entire fitness industry preaches this is very simple. They just make money from it because when people realize that it's quite a problem for them to eat several small meals a day, they come to the conclusion that they "should" buy protein powders and various meal replacement shakes to compensate. those "missed meals".
Here's the real truth about portion sizes and number of meals:
A few small meals a day won't harm your metabolism.
This is precisely the “master weapon” or the main reason why the fitness industry claims that you should eat several times a day in order to lose weight.
The only drawback of this model is that it has no scientific basis...
And, if you are looking for common sense in this, then, nevertheless, will frequent meals help you lose weight?
Here's what the science has to say about meal frequency and metabolism:
1. The researchers concluded that during the 24-hour period, more frequent, but smaller meals did not affect the energy balance.
2. In 179 different studies, it was found that frequent meals do not affect weight loss or metabolic rate.
3. One study found that smaller meals did not help control appetite. This means that claims like "you are hungry and therefore overeat in the evening" have no basis.
4. Another study compared 3 various schemes Meals: meals without breakfast, 2 large meals per day and 6 small meals per day. All meals had the same calorie content. As a result, the researchers found that the eating pattern consisting of 6 small meals per day had the worst effects, and the metabolic rate was much faster in the other two patterns.
5. The study showed that during the 24-hour period when calorie content is reduced, the metabolic rate also decreases, but it has also been shown that the frequency of meals has nothing to do with this.
6. The study found that in a 36-hour period, among the same-calorie diets, the 3-meal meal plan outperformed the 14-meal pattern (by superior, I mean that the metabolic rate was higher in the 3-meal group).
7. One curious study showed that if you fast for 72 hours, your metabolism does not slow down. In fact, the researchers found that the metabolic rate increased during fasting. Only after 72 hours complete starvation metabolic rate dropped by only 8%. This means that the fasting regime exists, but it only kicks in after 72 hours of no calories, and in the end, it's a very small decrease...
8. In another similar fasting study, they found that patients who did an alternate day of fasting (eating unlimited during the day and fasting the next day) did not experience a decrease in metabolic rate during the experiment, which lasted 22 days (which means that they ate for 12 days and fasted for 12 days).
There are many more studies with similar conclusions, but I think that now I can prove my point ...
As you can see, several small meals a day have nothing to do with metabolism or weight loss, and it seems that eating less frequently and fasting increases the metabolic rate. Contrary to what someone told you.
Eating Frequency and Muscle Building
And here's another fad invented by the fitness industry that works for it, as people now think that if they don't eat every 3 hours, their muscles will melt. Protein Powders Help!
No, seriously, back in the affirmation "eat every 3 hours to keep muscle" there is no scientific proof.
It seems to me that the fitness industry has been lying to us all along (it's no secret that the fitness industry mostly gives us empty promises).
Here's what the science says about meal frequency and muscle building:
1. One good research clearly showed that intermittent fasting(fasting for 16-24 hours, and then taking total daily calories in a short period of time) does not increase muscle tissue breakdown.
2. Another study found that meal frequency really has nothing to do with muscle gain, it's all about how much you eat, not how often you eat.
Unfortunately, there isn't much research on muscle loss and meal frequency, but the research above should make things clear: muscle mass is directly related to how much you eat, not how often you eat.
The fact is that millions of people (including me) are now doing daily intermittent fasting and are still gaining large amounts of muscle, so the myth of the frequency of meals and loss of muscle mass has already been dispelled.
In a nutshell: it really doesn't make any difference how often you eat. The most important thing for building muscle mass is how much you eat. (instead of thinking about your daily calorie intake, think about your weekly calorie intake). So to get big, you need to eat more, but you don't have to eat more often.
Eating more often, but in small portions, is bad for your hormonal background
it real reason why I do intermittent fasting every day, and why I fast for 24 hours several times every month.
The fact is that our testosterone levels go down every time we eat something.
One study actually found that there was no difference whether it was fat only, carbohydrates only, protein only, or a mixture of the two. However, every time you eat, your testosterone levels drop.
Another important fact is that every time your insulin levels go up, your testosterone and growth hormone levels will go down. And if you eat small meals several times a day, then your insulin levels will rise several times a day. Thus, you get a double whammy on your male hormones.
And now what? Do I need to stop eating to raise my testosterone levels?
Not, this is not an option, because when there is a lack of energy in the body, your testosterone level also decreases.
And we can't forget that we still need to eat a ton of food to get all the vital building blocks needed for muscle building and hormone production.
So what best way minimize the decline in hormones, and at the same time eat enough and get all the vital nutrients for muscle building and hormonal health?
Answer: Intermittent fasting (no calories for 16-24 hours, after which all daily calories are eaten within 4-8 hours), or alternative fasting day (eating nothing for one day, but for next day you eat twice the daily amount of food).
The examples above seem extreme, but they are actually very flexible and easy to follow, much easier than eating small meals several times a day.
So here's what will help keep hormonal health: eat less often, but do not eat less food. This is why intermittent fasting and similar eating patterns are extremely beneficial for your hormones. One study found that intermittent fasting increased testosterone levels by 180% in healthy, non-obese men.
The breakfast is not really the best. important trick food per day
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day"- so say all the mothers of the world (and mine is no exception), but in reality it is not so ..
And that's why:
When you wake up, you are already in a state of starvation (assuming you don't eat while you sleep).
So, you are full of energy, autophagy is happening - your body is being cleared of waste, and your hormones are working at their peak (testosterone levels are highest in the morning).
What happens when you eat a bowl of cereal or muesli in the morning? I mean, it's right and great, isn't it?
a) autophagy (cleansing your body's liver) stops or slows dramatically.
b) when you wake up your SNS (sympathetic nervous system) is suppressed, which means your cortisol levels are suppressed too. But as soon as you eat something, your PSNS (parasympathetic nervous system) is activated, you become sleepy, slow, and you become more resistant to fatigue and stress. PSNS activation also reduces testosterone levels due to an increase in cortisol levels.
in) your body no longer burns its own fat for fuel, but instead uses the glucose from that meal.
G) your internal biorhythms are interrupted (this is because the PSNS should only be active during sleep).
Although this may sound very complicated, in a nutshell, it simply means that human body was never adapted for breakfast. And if you submit primitive man Do you think he ate breakfast and a few small meals a day? I strongly doubt it.
Our body still functions the same way as that of primitive men, so why complicate things with breakfast, which is completely unnatural for the human body?
NOTE: Kellogg and other large cereal and muesli companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars every year to promote the idea of " healthy breakfast" in mass media. This is the real reason why everyone thinks that breakfast is the most healthy intake food.
Conclusion
Here are some of the reasons why I do intermittent fasting and why I have never been positive about the idea of several small meals a day.
There are absolutely no benefits to such a regimen, and it is indeed quite unhealthy if we consider it from a hormonal point of view.
Reasons for feeling unwell, such as headaches, irritability, or ineffectiveness in coping with overweight, can be covered in consumption various products while we don't even know it.
How nutrition affects health
Frequent mood swings
Probably each of us noticed for ourselves abrupt change sentiment, at first glance, unfounded. But the rationale may lie in the diet.
Most diets involve a strong reduction carbohydrate food in the diet, but this can cause malaise. It is the rejection of bread and pasta that can provoke a deterioration in mood and the appearance of irritability. And all due to the fact that carbohydrates are necessary for the production of the happiness hormone serotonin.
How to get rid of irritability
Choose for your diet complex carbohydrates that won't hurt your figure. It can be whole grains, pasta, vegetables and fruits.
Weight gain
One of the most pressing problems modern man It's about weight loss. childhood obesity can serve as a prime example of how nutrition affects health.
One of the main causes of weight gain is the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate, which stimulates appetite and makes us eat more. Glutamate is a constant component of fast food and convenience foods. Very often, manufacturers mask the presence of monosodium glutamate in products using synonymous names - yeast extract or hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
How to lose weight without diets
Avoid fast food and store bought food. If you start eating homemade food made from natural ingredients, you can lose weight without dieting, while at the same time improving your well-being.
Headache
Certain foods can trigger headaches or migraines. These include matured cheeses (such as blue cheese or cheddar cheese) as well as red wines. Even a few hours after consuming these foods, your head may start to hurt.
How to get rid of a headache
Before you take a headache pill, remember what you ate the day before. Perhaps it was a product that rarely appears in your diet, but systematically causes a deterioration in well-being. In this case, just avoid it in the future. You can also take tests to detect food allergies. The reason may lie in this.
Correct modern food implies: quality andamount of food consumed+ mandatory introduction of high-quality biologically active food supplements into the diet.
What will happen to the body with proper nutrition, the introduction of higher quality products into the diet, which are closer to their natural state and are less subject to heat treatment?
Remarkable things will begin to happen both with the body and with the personality of a person. Amazing intelligence is inherent in every cell of the body.
There is a rule: when the quality of food entering the body becomes higher than the quality of the tissues that make up the body, then the body begins to reject materials of a lower level and makes room for more advanced materials, which allows you to build healthier tissues. This rule is called plan of evolution of nature.
The body is very picky and always strives to become more perfect in order to improve health.
What symptoms are observed when we first start to replace low quality products with more quality products- more alive, more natural than those we are used to?
There may be a decline in strength, but this means that the body begins to restructure: it transfers all forces to internal organs, which is interpreted by the brain as a kind of weakness, and is simply a reorientation of forces to more important internal parts. Here it is important for a person to reduce energy consumption, rest and sleep more. This is a critical phase, and if a person resorts here to stimulants of any kind, he will disrupt and upset the recovery plan of the body.
It is very important to have patience and faith, it is worth waiting a little - after a while 
time you will feel a power like you have never felt before. Success in regaining health depends on the correct understanding of this moment: the realization that the body uses its main reserves in a more important inner work and does not waste them outside, including muscular movements.
Be wise - take it for granted and relax. As a person continues to adhere to proper nutrition and constantly improves the quality of writing, the body begins a process called restoration.
Cellular "mind" thinks something like this: “Oh! Look at all this incoming material!
How wonderful - we have a chance to get rid of this old garbage and build a beautiful new house. Let's start immediately.
Let's release this excess bile from the liver and gallbladder, send it to the intestines for disposal.
Let's expel these toxins from the arteries, veins and capillaries. These fetid, gassed unthinkable masses have been here for too long, let's get rid of them!
These arthritic deposits in the joints require cleansing.
Let's banish irritating food concentrates, aspirin, sleeping pills, drugs, along with all the fat deposits that make life so burdensome for us. Let's get started and keep going until the whole body is in perfect working order."
There may be headaches at first, develop a fever or cold, the skin may develop a rash that resembles allergic reactions, the intestines may work sluggishly for some time or, conversely, diarrhea will occur, a feeling of fatigue or weakness, lethargy, irritability, depression, etc. may appear.
However, most people find such reactions tolerable, as the improvements that have already taken place and are taking place are becoming more obvious every day. And this is the best motivation. The more you rest and sleep, the weaker they will be and the sooner they will stop.
The main thing is to understand that the whole body becomes younger and healthier every day, as you get rid of more and more more slag, which over time would bring you pain, illness and suffering many times worse.
Those who showed the most purification processes, and who withstood them to extinction avoided very serious illnesses that would eventually develop if people still did not pay attention to their eating habits.
If you continue to improve your nutrition, you will feel better day by day until you reach perfection. The activity of the body is cyclic in nature, and health develops according to the principle of ever-decreasing cycles.
For example, you switched to proper nutrition until you feel much better.
But after a while, a symptom appears: you may feel nauseous during the day, an attack of diarrhea may occur. And in a day you will feel better, and everything will be fine again for a while. Then you suddenly catch a cold, feel chills and lose your appetite. In two or three days, without taking any pills, you will suddenly get better and feel as good as you have not felt for many years.
Suppose that you will feel like this for about two months, and then suddenly there will be scabies or a rash. The rashes will turn red, intensify, and this will be about ten days. And suddenly, everything suddenly disappears. Immediately after that, you will find that the forces are greater than before. Through this rash, the poisons accumulated in the liver came out.
And so all the time: every reaction will be weaker than the previous one because the body becomes cleaner and cleaner. The cycles will get shorter and shorter and will be followed by longer and longer periods of wonderful well-being, and this will continue until your health reaches a new level.
Here you become relatively disease free and fill with increasing joy. Full life and the feeling of happiness comes from feeling absolutely wonderful. Your thoughts will be freed, sensations will become clear and deep. You will begin to love the world. This natural state is happiness, joy and being in harmony with the whole world.
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Recently, doctors and biologists have increasingly begun to talk about how significant role synanthropic organisms play in our lives, and in particular, intestinal bacteria. Previous studies have shown that and . Therefore, scientists began to pay even more attention to what affects intestinal bacteria, their organization and population in our body.
Most of the experiments aimed at the study of synanthropic organisms in the intestine are carried out on mice. With people, the situation is more complicated: it is difficult to ask volunteers to drastically change their diet for several months, and this is how much it may take to reorganize intestinal microflora. By at least That's what biologists used to think.
In 2009, a microbiologist from Harvard University Peter Turnbaugh proved that significant changes in the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract occur in mice just a day after giving up familiar dishes. Now, a team of scientists from Duke University, led by Lawrence David, conducted an experiment with volunteers to understand how long it takes a person to reorganize. intestinal bacteria after changing diet.
The researchers invited 10 volunteers and asked them to eat only what they were given in the laboratory for five days.
Half of the subjects ate food of animal origin - bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, ribs and brisket for lunch, salami and assorted cheeses for dinner, pigtail cheese for starters. The other half of the volunteers consumed plant foods with high content fiber: grains, beans, fruits and vegetables. In the days before and after the experiment, the subjects also recorded what they ate outside the lab so that the researchers could assess differences in diet.
Scientists conducted a DNA analysis of the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract before, during and after the experiment. In this way, they were able to determine which types of bacteria were present in the intestines and which chemical substances they were producing. The researchers also studied the activity of the microorganism's genes.
Biologists note that although the types of bacteria have not changed, but the population various types increased significantly, especially among meat-eaters. In just four days, members of this group increased levels of bacteria tolerant of high levels. bile acids. This is due to the fact that when eating meat, the body secretes bile for digestion, and the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract reacts to this almost instantly.
The activity of gut microbial genes also changed when the diet changed. In meat eaters, the activity of genes involved in the breakdown of proteins increased, and in fiber consumers, the genes responsible for the digestion of carbohydrates were launched.
"We were very surprised that for such short term the activity of genes in the group of meat-eaters practically began to coincide with the same indicator in predatory animals. Even in cases where a person ordinary life was a vegetarian, and during our experiment he fell into the group of consumers of food of animal origin. The same is true for the second group: in just a few days, the activity of certain genes became the same as in herbivores in wild nature", says David.
From an evolutionary perspective, the rapid reorganization of gut bacteria with a sudden change in diet helped our ancestors better adapt to changing environmental conditions. But also in modern world where a person chooses what to eat, this ability is of great importance.
According to David's colleagues who were not involved in this work, one day it may be possible to develop a method of "dietary" treatment of diseases associated with the microbiome of the gastrointestinal tract.
It is still unknown how exactly you need to eat to maintain a population of bacteria necessary for health. But scientists advise diversifying the diet as much as possible: eat food and animals, and plant origin. This is how it will be possible to maintain the necessary proportion of all types of beneficial bacteria.
The researchers reported their findings in an article published in the journal Nature.
How to eat right: often, but little by little or rarely, but satisfying?
The idea is that when we eat regularly throughout the day, the body knows that food will arrive soon, and the calories consumed with more likely will be burned, not stored as fat. Eating at regular intervals helps stabilize blood sugar levels and maintain energy balance.
But, in practice, the conditions for reducing the amount of food are often not observed, or two snacks are added to the three main meals. However, it’s hard to blame people for this: the same theory says that in no case should you bring the body to severe hunger, otherwise you will overeat at the next meal.
So counting the hunger terrible enemy, a person does not allow himself to be completely hungry . BUT the digestive system, instead of getting unloaded, is in constant work .
For a long time, the ideas that fractional nutrition “speeds up metabolism” and “opens fat burning windows” have no real evidence base, and are not true.
Besides, modern research showed that in terms of metabolism and calorie consumption, there is no difference between fractional meals and meals once or twice a day with large amounts of food (with the same daily calorie content).
A recent hormone study tells us that this is actually the most worst way to eat to balance blood sugar and weight loss and can really be dangerous to your health.
If we talk about research - 36 hour fasting did not reveal any changes in the metabolism of the subjects.
The researchers say: “Eating only breakfast and lunch reduces body weight, liver fat, plasma glucose, C-peptide and glucagon. These results suggest that for type 2 diabetic patients, dividing food into just breakfast and lunch may be more beneficial than dividing into six servings."
Ancient Indian wisdom, according to Ayurveda and Yoga Shastra, says: yogis (looking for happiness inside) eat once a day, bhogi ( ordinary people who are looking for happiness outside) - twice a day, rogi (sick people- one who cannot achieve satisfaction, and therefore is in suffering all the time) - three times a day.
But, to then he eats four times a day, that DROHI (greedy person).
Yes, the amount of food consumed by wealthy people today is far beyond the necessary needs. Overeating has become a fashion.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, people ate 2 meals a day. The first meal was at about 10 o'clock in the morning, at the same time a person woke up with the sunrise. Dinner was around 6pm. Thus, a fairly large interval of time was obtained between meals.
The ancient Greeks and Romans ate once a day. This can be verified by studying historical sources. For ancient Persia and ancient Israel, such nutrition was also characteristic.
At the same time, it cannot be said that people in those days were fat. But this, according to nutritionists, threatens those who eat "not often enough."
Understanding why fractional nutrition is wrong
Hunger, satiety, and blood sugar balance are under hormonal control. And we're not talking about reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone. We're talking about how hormones are for survival.
Eating multiple meals (5-6 times a day) alters hormonal signaling, interferes with the mechanism that burns fat for fuel, liver metabolism, and sends calories to fat stores.
Snacking between meals is sure to stress the liver and is simply not recommended. The liver must re-learn how to normally use gluconeogenesis again when you are asleep or awake. Snacking simply destroys time and the circadian clock that works in unison with leptin.
The total digestion time for an average meal is approximately 5-6 hours. The very idea that skipping one meal can affect metabolism and muscle loss is fundamentally illogical - the body does not rebuild so quickly.
In addition, you often have to force yourself to eat food with fractional meals, because appetite is dulled and there is no feeling of hunger.
Hormone Recovery Solution
So, now you understand that fractional or frequent use small portions of food adversely affect hormonal balance. What solution?
It is important to remember that fat burning is not possible when insulin levels are elevated. It takes about 3 hours after a meal for insulin levels to return to baseline, even if you just ate a small snack.
If you want to lose weight, eliminate fatigue, are concerned about family history heart disease, cancer or diabetes, use the critical time to burn fat.
3 hours after eating, exercise, and do your best to hold on to the next meal for as long as you can.
It can only be 3 hours and 15 minutes to start, then 4 hours, and then eventually you can go without food for at least 5 to 6 hours.
As you stretch the time between meals and change foods to foods that require less insulin, you will see fewer numbers on the scale. Reconsider on food than just on Glycemic index when you want to lose weight or just for health. And maybe even more important, you protect yourself from the top 3 fatal diseases in the modern world (, Oncology and).
Fractional or frequent meals may be beneficial for the following categories of people:
People with some disabilities.
For example, with violations digestive system. For them, as a rule, normal portions of food cause some Negative consequences, so fractional nutrition for them is the optimal mode.
People who need smaller meals to help control their appetite.
Such people cannot be called healthy either, since initially each of us has self-regulation of appetite, which controls the correspondence of calories consumed to those spent.
People who want to reduce fat under the influence of intense exercise.
The key point here is precisely intense physical activity. The fact is that with such nutrition, amino acids often enter the body, which can accelerate protein synthesis by the body. Meanwhile, protein synthesis itself is an extremely energy-intensive process. Thus, with the help of amino acids, it is possible to increase the body's energy consumption from several hours to several days.
Athletes to build muscle.
Eating 5-6 times a day is the preferred method for many athletes and bodybuilders. This is probably the best way to eat for those who want to increase muscle or maintain high level physical activity. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that enhances cell division and tissue growth. In fact, it is even more anabolic than HGH. The problem is that he is a promiscuous anabolic and doesn't care if he accumulates fat or increases muscle mass. But don't blame insulin for that. This hormone is just doing its job. And its main job is to maintain a safe and stable glucose level in the region of 80-100 mg / deciliter. When blood glucose levels rise above 100, the pancreas starts producing insulin. Always ready to help, insulin "selects" excess glucose from the blood and sends it to storage.
Therefore, in order to build muscle, you will have to take care of high insulin levels throughout the day, therefore, eat 5-6 and even 7-8 times a day.
It is especially important to ensure that insulin levels are high immediately after training, because. at this time, muscle cell membranes are especially permeable to insulin and everything that it carries with it (for example, glucose, BCAAs).
But, if our goal is only fat loss, then we need to make sure that throughout the day there is low level insulin. Physiologically speaking, it is impossible to burn fat and build muscle at the same time, because one process is catabolic (fat loss) and the other anabolic (muscle building).
However, if you eat a small amount every 2 to 3 hours, as some experts advise, your insulin levels will never return to normal. normal levels and you will never start burning fat.
On the other hand, even if you are not interested in building muscle, it is still very important to initiate at least some insulin production after. This will stop the catabolism caused by training, and also send glucose and amino acids to muscle cells. Otherwise, you will find that you are losing valuable muscle tissue, and therefore interfere with the metabolic machinery that burns fat.
But still, it is better to eat 2-3 times a day without snacks between meals for weight loss, rejuvenation and longevity.
The path of nature is the only direct path to health and longevity.
Where did it come from
Seeing how clear the conclusion of this study is, many of you will wonder why some people, "certified dietitians" by the way, repeat the talk about "firing the metabolism furnace" with frequent smaller meals. My smartest hypothesis about this is that maybe they misunderstood TEF a bit. Whatever one may say, but theoretically they are right that the metabolism constantly remains enhanced if you eat often. They really missed the most important point that TEF is strictly proportional to the calorie content of each meal.
Another option is that this bike is based on epidemiological studies that found an inverse relationship between the number of meals and the weight of the population. This means that the researchers looked at the diets of thousands of individuals and found that those who ate more often tended to weigh less than those who ate less frequently. It is very important to note that these studies do not take into account the calorie content of the diet, and they were conducted on average Vans (i.e. on normal people who do not count calories, and their food is rather spontaneous, like most people)
There is a saying "correlation does not imply causality" (correlation does not imply causation), which makes further explanation inappropriate, since explains many other stories about nutrition. That there is a connection between frequent meals and less weight does not mean that eating less often causes weight gain. The same studies clearly show that people who tend to eat less often:
They also have an irregular diet; this is the type who replaces breakfast with a donut on the way to work, undereats all day and fills himself up in the evening. Most often, they follow nutrition and health in general less than those who eat more often.
One of the weight loss strategies is skipping meals. This may be another reasonable explanation for the association between eating less frequently and overweight. Overweight people are much more likely to go on diets and skip meals.
The association between eating less frequently and being overweight in the general population is behavioral, not metabolic.
