re: cw and the "6 small meals per day" crap page 2

[dogfuel]

thanks all for the feedback... suspected it had some scientific basis (perhaps managing insulin for carb-burners?)... looks like opinion is it is complete bs (imagine that!).

[cayla29s]

I used to eat 5-6 small meals a day and I had blood sugar swings doing this. I always felt hungrier this way of eating. I ditched eating the little meals and now have 3 large meals a day. I feel so much better and I find that I'm more satisfied. I never had issues dropping weight with 3 meals a day either. If 5-6 small meals a day works for other people then go right ahead. I will never go back to it.

[peril]

This isn't even CW. Growing up in the sixties and seventies the advice was always to have three square meals per day

[oxide]

6 meals per day is a new CW put forth by the "eating clean" movement as championed by Tosca Reno and her followers. The idea is to "pack a cooler" of raw veggies and eat six tiny meals per day to keep your metabolism up, starting with those moronic steel cut oats. And drink 2-3 liters of water. If you're hungry or don't feel like eating, then your meals were too big.

I tried it for about a month. All I could do was eat another baggie of stuff and run to the loo. I could get NO work done whatsoever. And I GAINED two pounds.

Then I started Primal and did Leptin Reset and dang, I'm luvvin' this 5-6 hours between meals.

[Louisa655]

I think it is recommended because the majority of folks are sugar burners and if they don't snack (with yet more sugar in whatever form) between meals they become hungry, sick, blood sugar crashy, etc. This used to be me, too. So.. if you are a sugar burner, this is not a bullshit theory. They DO need to eat something every 2 hours or they start to feel the effects of diminishing fuel.

Since becoming truly primal, I no longer have this problem. I eat a big healthy breakfast and a big healthy dinner and absolutely nothing else in between. This kind of IF works for me - but only after practice and the changeover from burning sugar to fat.

I'm on the exact same programme as qqemokitty (only I have lunch & dinner) and a bullet coffee for breakfast. I fast from 5pm nightly until 11:30am following day. When I used to eat 3 meals a day (pre-paleo), I would eat because I was supposed to, but I never really felt hungry. It's good to feel real hunger again.

[Ripped]

just wondering... Does anyone know of any credible research around the conventional mantra that you should have six or more small meals per day to help your metabolism?

Here is what I think is a better question: Does anyone have any proof that eating less or less often is bad for you in any way whatsoever? And the answer is a flat out NO!

I sounds plausable, but I feel better, work better and find it easier to have 2 meals - lunch then dinner

This is what I have found to be the best as well. Sometimes I'll skip lunch too, but I have found that such isn't practical to do every day.

Where does cw like that come from (please, no conspiracy theories about Monsanto wanting to push grain-based snacks)?

I think it initially started getting popularized by pro bodybuilders. Because they needed to eat like that in order to keep up with their high calorie requirements. But somehow that eventually turned into common belief. It works great as a marketing ploy.

[Velocity J]

There were some studies to support the idea, but they got taken out of context. Here is one that found eating 17 snacks a day might have and effect on insulin Nibbling versus gorging: metabolic advantages o... [N Engl J Med. 1989] - PubMed - NCBI.

Even though studies were showing that eating more frequently didn't really affect metabolism the message began getting distorted and eventually someone arrived at 6 meals a day as being the right amount. I know this was popular with bodybuilders for a while because the theory was that the body could only absorb so much protein at one time. Likely it became so widespread (at least in the fitness community) from people just repeating what they heard someone else say and not looking at any of the research.

If I try to eat smaller frequent meals somehow I end up way overeating. Now I tend to just eat when I'm hungry, and that might mean going most of the day without eating anything.

[TARNIP]

I am one of 'those' people that really does feel better eating 6 smaller meals daily. Maybe it is due to all of my health complaints and digestive issues but a couple of bigger meals daily just make me feel awful (tired, bloated, achy tummy). Not saying I eat 6 meals every day but I certainly need to eat more than 2............

[Bosstycoon]

I Since becoming paleo in the past year my approach has had great gains with 3 big meals a day and some IF. However after this long time with very minimal carbs under 60g for months my body recently crashed hard. for a few days straight i was having head aches and nausea issues as well as bad problems in the bathroom. Come to realize my activity levels are very high and I should have been eating complex carbs within the past month or so sooner. This relating to the thread now is I have now converted to eating 6 small meals to really speed up my metabolism faster and shred those last few pounds...Already have my diet plan typed lined up with times of meals and workouts...Well keep updated on how body feels. but since eating this way for 2 days now havent had any problems in the bathroom or with energy.

[Catrin]

I used a diet like that before switching to primal. It worked quite well for me along with counting calories. I was able to get really cut without ever feeling like I was starving. Granted, cutting grains has worked better than anything else I have ever done.

While I certainly didn't get cut while doing this, using the 3 small meals + 3 snacks approach helped me to lose right at 60 pounds and reversed diabetes 2 (just barely over the line and I may not have truly crossed it). I was taught that it was the best way to insure consistent blood sugar levels and to prevent spikes/lows in my insulin cycles. Of course they also told me I needed 200 grams of carbs daily and I also counted calories closely - knowing that it was an approximation at best. Almost all of my carbs were grains, of course.

Amazing what happens/it feels like when you cut out the grains and no longer HAVE to eat 6 times a day!