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Fewer meals can benefit obese women

Tuesday 11th December 2012
Fewer meals can benefit obese women
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Consuming fewer meals a day can significantly benefit obese women looking to lose weight, according to new research.

Despite claims by nutritionists and media articles in the US that eating small snacks could be helpful in attempting to shed some pounds, researchers at the University of Minnesota's Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology have claimed that fewer meals is better. The team noted that those women which consumed fewer meals but of the same calorie intake would result in having less fat in their blood compared to those which had more meals.

Tim Heden, a doctoral student at the institute, led a research group which assessed how blood-sugar and blood-fat levels were linked to the frequency in which they consumed foods. They tested eight obese women throughout two 12-hour periods on two different days and ensured that they all ate 1,500 calories.

However, half of the group consumed six liquid meals while the rest only ate three of the same substance. The researchers noted significant differences between the two participating groups regarding the same calorie intake.

Women that ate six meals were found to have much more fat in their blood compared to the ones that only consumed three. This highlighted the fact that constant snacking could be more damaging in the long term for females that have problems controlling their weight.

Mr Heden said: "The mass media and many health care practitioners often advocate eating several small meals throughout the day. However, when we examined the literature, we didn't find many studies examining or supporting this popular claim.

"This lack of research led to our study, which is one of the first to examine how meal frequency affects insulin and blood-fat levels in obese women during an entire day of eating."

The researchers concluded that it would be beneficial if obese women looked to eat three balanced meals a day as this will help them avoid the temptation of snacking and keep them full enough so they will not need anymore between breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Search for a dietician job at Mediplacements, a genuine specialist providing recruitment opportunities in the NHS and private sector.

written by Martin LambertADNFCR-1780-ID-801504738-ADNFCR

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