Quote:
Originally Posted by Libertine
Actually, that's not quite true either - albeit a lot closer to the truth.
Having three balanced meals a day and 2-3 (healthy!) snacks a day is perfect for most people.
Having fewer, larger meals isn't necessarily unhealthy, but it does have a bunch of downsides. It's likely to create cravings (which tend to lead to unhealthy snacks), it increases chances of indigestion, and it may mess up blood sugar levels in some people. Plus, if you do heavy workouts, not timing your protein and carb intake around them will decrease the benefits.
However, someone who is healthy and doesn't engage in strenuous exercise can get by perfectly well on just 2-3 (healthy!) meals a day without any significant adverse effects.
But really, for most people, the 3 meals/2-3 snacks schedule works best - if only because it's so easy to follow.
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I can agree with all that.
I think where the 4-6 smaller meals rule comes into it is when someone is overweight and they need to train their body out of starvation mode and into "feast" mode... thus forcing it to burn existing fat rather than continue to store it and take energy away from the muscles.
But absolutely, for most average people who aren't obese and just want to get a little fitter (like Sticky) eating a good breakfast, a spread-out lunch including a few healthy snacks, a sensible dinner and water throughout the day is perfect, and as you said it's easy to do.