The Frequency of Eating and What It Does to the Metabolism - Essay Example

?[Your full November 26, Comparison Essay Whether to eat more frequently or not to eat more frequently has been a hot topic of debate ever since people got more conscious about their body weight and weight loss. Some people suggest that eating 3 meals a day helps you eat less, and thus you lose weight; while, others suggest that eating more frequently and in smaller meals, like 6 meals a day that includes snacks and smaller chunks of food, helps you burn fat more effectively. Whether to eat frequently or not to eat more frequently, both aspects have their own pros and cons. This depends on people who intelligently consume food in appropriate quantities. This paper tends to compare the two forms of eating habits- eating frequently and not eating more frequently, and comes with a conclusion that eating more frequently does not speed up metabolism to make one lose weight, and eating less frequently maintains a healthy eating routine. Eating more frequently keeps you feel fuller throughout the day, but does not speed up metabolism. Weight loss occurring from frequent meals is not due to consuming smaller meals throughout the day, but because they have to digest more often for which more energy is spent throughout the day which may be more than the amount of energy intake. This is called thermogenesis. However, it is recommended to eat more frequently due to some important reasons. For example, eating more frequently helps people consume more fruits and vegetables, and thus, they feel fuller that prevents binge eating. When they consume smaller snacks in accurate proportions, they tend to balance out their insulin level. Moreover, eating all day long is not a natural habit, since humans eat to live and not live to eat. It is not natural in such a busy life as in today’s world, to keep on eating 6 to 8 meals a day. There is no time, and there is no energy to go get food after every two hours. Eating more frequently only increases food cravings because it gets into the habit. Wolfram (1987) et al. conducted a research to study the effect of thermogenesis in humans after varying meal time frequencies. In one trial, 8 healthy persons were given a hypocaloric diet- protein (13% of energy), carbohydrates (46% of energy) and fat (41% of energy)- as one meal for two weeks. On second trial, the participants were given the same amounts of nutrients but in five meals a day for two weeks. Procedures of indirect calorimetry were used to assess what effects the two kinds of eating habit (eating more frequently and not eating more frequently) had on the metabolic systems of the participants. The researchers found that there were no changes in body weight. No difference in the retention of carbon and energy was found. Protein metabolism was only a slightly higher in eating more frequently, which was compensated in terms of reduced fat oxidation. Heat production, Water, sodium and potassium balances, and plasma concentrations of cholesterol and uric acid were the same in the two trials. As for glucose, it showed its typical behavior depending on how much time had passed since last meal. Hence, they proved that there was no difference in metabolic activities in the two kinds of eating habits. This proves that eating more frequently does not improve or fasten up the metabolic system. Smeets and Westerterp-Plantenga also reached the same conclusion in their research that eating more frequently and not eating more frequently does not pose a marked difference in the metabolic rate; hence, eating frequency cannot be related to weight loss or weight gain. The researchers studied the effect of inter-meal interval on metabolic activities by dividing energy intake over two and three meals a day. There were two experimental conditions. Fourteen normal-weight young women spent 36 hours in energy balance in a respiration chamber. They were given two meals one day and three meals the next day. The researchers concluded that, “Eating three meals compared with two meals had no effects on 24 h energy expenditure, diet-induced thermogenesis, activity-induced energy expenditure and sleeping metabolic rate” (1316). However, three meals a day sustained the feelings of satiety or fullness throughout the day, and also sustained the fat oxidation throughout the night. This research also proves that eating frequently and not eating more frequently does not have a marked difference in the metabolic activity. Eating three meals a day helps regulate eating routine, enabling a person to have a life beside eating and fat burning exercises. It also helps keep insulin levels in stability, and helps maintain mental clarity. However, caloric deprivation is one issue that must be considered seriously. Caloric deprivation has been found to have negative effects on human cognition and health. Agras and Telch studied the effects of caloric deprivation on sixty obese women who had met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) research criteria for binge-eating disorder. They were exposed to 14-hour period of caloric deprivation or to no deprivation, and then their moods were analyzed. It was found that both deprivation and negative mood triggered binge eating. Hence, “Caloric deprivation also led participants to eat significantly more during the buffet, but not over the laboratory day” (Agras and Telch 491). So, it is necessary to consider that less eating should not lead to caloric deprivation, as it leads to negative mood swings and binge eating when exposed to food. Still, eating less frequently is beneficial in maintaining a healthy eating routine. Putting it all together, eating frequently and not eating more frequently both have their pros and cons. Eating frequently keeps one satisfied at stomach, but does not fasten up the metabolic system so as to make the individual lose any weight. On the other hand, eating less frequently stabilizes eating routine and saves time and energy. However, caloric deprivation must be avoided in case the individual is eating less. This paper compared the two types of eating habits with focusing on their pros and cons quite efficiently. Works Cited Agras, W. Stewart, and Christy F. Telch. The Effects of Caloric Deprivation and Negative Effect of Binge Eating in Obese Binge-eating Disordered Women. Behavior Therapy 29.3(1998): 491-503. Smeets, Astrid J., and Margriet S. Westerterp-Plantenga. “Acute Effects on Metabolism and Appetite Pro?le of One Meal Difference in the Lower Range of Meal Frequency.” British Journal of Nutrition 99(2008): 1316-1321. Wolfram, G., Kirchgessner M, Muller HL, and S. Hollomey. “Thermogenesis in Humans after Varying Meal Time Frequency.” Ann Nutr Metab 31.2(1987): 88-97. 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