[RYW] Bonus Lesson #20. Grazing vs 3 Meals

When I was working in the food industry, I sat through many a presentation by various experts on the trends and predictions for the world of food.

One of the most common observations was that people are moving away from eating proper meals, in favour of grazing throughout the day.

Lots of little meals.

And I couldn’t help but think it isn’t a coincidence that as we start to eat more regularly, obesity is on the rise.

does grazing boost metabolism?
Over the years I’ve seen many articles encouraging us to eat lots of little meals to boost our metabolism and help burn fat. The theory is that the digestion process requires energy, so it boosts our metabolism.

But the same amount of food eaten all in one sitting or over several hours takes the same amount of energy to digest. Spreading out the meal doesn’t actually make a difference to our metabolism.

So the answer is no, grazing doesn’t boost metabolism.

what about keeping us feeling full?
The other supposed benefit of grazing is that lots of little meals keep us feeling full.

But a recent study has shown the opposite to be true. Eating larger, more infrequent high protein meals kept participants in the study feeling more satiated and less hungry for longer.

So to my mind, 3 meals is the way forward.
Of course it’s up to you. If you’d like to learn more about this. There’s a great article over at Mark’s Daily Apple.

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