Think Small Frequent Meals Are Healthier? Think Again.

Diabetics are often told to eat five to six small meals during the day. Small frequent snacks has long been the advice given for weight loss, especially in diabetics. Looks like that advice is wrong. Overweight patients with type 2 diabetes who ate only breakfast and lunch lost more weight than those eating six small meals a day in results presented at the recent meeting of the American Diabetes Association. Two meals a day also resulted in greater decreases in fasting blood sugar and improved fatty liver.

Now, I know it’s a tall order to ask people to give up their evening meal. However, many people report that after eating a big breakfast and lunch they aren’t as hungry for an evening meal. Fat deposition is greater following dinner. Diabetes-free people of Mediterranean heritage who ate most of their daily intake early lost more weight and did so at a faster rate than did late eaters. In the current twelve-week study both diets were similar in calories, fat and carbohydrate count but two meals a day showed dramatically better results when it came to weight loss and improved blood sugar control.

For some reason, the fasting state that occurs when you only eat two meals a day, improves your sensitivity to insulin which improves weight loss and sugars.

The ancient proverb may be true: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.

- Dr. O

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