Research has not shown that eating frequent small meals increases weight loss success, though it may have other health advantages. Eating more often may decrease the feelings of hunger that can sabotage anyone's good intentions.
You can lose weight by eating less, but adding physical activity allows you to burn more calories than dieting alone. Any weight-loss plan that includes regular exercise is not only more successful — it's also healthier.
The Bottom Line
There are no health benefits to eating more often. It doesn't increase the number of calories burned or help you lose weight. Eating more often also doesn't improve blood sugar control. If anything, eating fewer meals is healthier.
There are many reasons you can gain weight that have nothing to do with food. Sometimes weight gain is easy to figure out. If you've changed your eating habits, added more dessert or processed foods, or have been spending more time on the couch than usual, you can typically blame those reasons if you gain a few pounds.
Lummus says that when your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl, burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve its energy stores. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight.
You will not gain weight from eating too few calories.
There are many reasons why it can seem like under-eating can lead to weight gain. But, science has shown over and over again that this isn't physiologically possible.
As a general rule, people need a minimum of 1,200 calories daily to stay healthy. People who have a strenuous fitness routine or perform many daily activities need more calories. If you have reduced your calorie intake below 1,200 calories a day, you could be hurting your body in addition to your weight-loss plans.
When someone is undereating, they are consuming fewer calories than their body needs to function correctly. This can have a severe impact on energy levels, causing feelings of physical tiredness and mental fatigue, which may impair a person's daily functioning.
Small frequent meals vs.
One study involving close to 2,700 women and men found that those who ate at least six times per day ate fewer calories, consumed healthier foods and had a lower body mass index than those who ate fewer than four times over a 24-hour period.
Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories that helped you lose weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat.
When you skip a meal, your body starts to run low on its immediate glucose supply. Low blood sugar can zap your energy, making you feel sluggish and weak, Zeitlin says. It can also make it hard to concentrate because your brain doesn't have the fuel it needs to think straight.
A prolonged 1,200 calorie-per-day diet can slow metabolism, so it is best to only do it short-term. There are risks to consuming too few calories, including: Not getting adequate nutrition.
Short-term fasts boost metabolism by up to 14%
It's well established that very long periods without food can cause a drop in metabolism ( 28 , 29 ). However, some older studies have shown that fasting for short periods can actually increase your metabolism, not slow it down ( 30 , 31 ).
1. Eating too few calories. Eating too few calories can cause a major decrease in metabolism. Although a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss, it can be counterproductive for your calorie intake to drop too low.
1. It Can Lower Your Metabolism. Regularly eating fewer calories than your body needs can cause your metabolism to slow down. Several studies show that low-calorie diets can decrease the number of calories the body burns by as much as 23% ( 8 , 9 , 10 ).
If you don't eat enough, your metabolism switches to slow-mo. Severe diets, especially when you also exercise, teach your body to make do with fewer calories. That can backfire, because your body clings to those calories, which makes it harder to take weight off.
Physical activity: Walking, chasing after your kids, playing tennis and other forms of exercise cause your body to burn more calories than being sedentary. Smoking: Nicotine speeds up your metabolism, so you burn more calories.
What Should Your Calorie Deficit Be? A good rule of thumb for healthy weight loss is a deficit of about 500 calories per day. That should put you on course to lose about 1 pound per week. This is based on a starting point of at least 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day for women and 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day for men.
The amount of food we consume daily has a significant impact on bodily function. Most adults need a minimum of 2000 calories to sustain metabolism, muscle activity, and brain function.
If you're not getting enough calories, chances are you're not getting enough vitamins and minerals either. Nutritional deficiencies may cause a long list of health complications including, but not limited to, anemia, infertility, bone loss, poor dental health and decreased thyroid function.
Skipping breakfast and other meals is one behavior studied as a factor influencing weight outcomes and dietary quality. Based on evidence that skipping breakfast reduces total daily caloric intake, some weight-loss recommendations include skipping breakfast (i.e., intermediate fasting) as one strategy to use.
As I mentioned earlier, lack of eating enough food can lead to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. Since the brain requires blood sugar to function optimally, when it starts to drop, one of the first cognitive processes that suffers is self-control.