Less is More Meal Timing The Science of Caloric Intake Thermic Effect of Food More Benefits to breaking up meals The Slump Reducing hunger
Many specialists believe that having breakfast initiates the body’s fat-burning process, while consuming 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day helps to maintain a steady metabolism. However, these studies have mixed results depending on other factors like base metabolic rate and activity level showing that the sweet spot is anywhere from 3 to 6 meals.
Lets imagine a car that knows exactly how much fuel it has and exactly when it is going to get its next fill. Now imagine that this car has a super computer that can adjust it’s usage and therefore save the maximum amount of fuel every time. This analogy works well with human digestion.
So let’s start from square one. Breakfast.
“One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.”
- Robert A. Heinlein
Among other signals, breakfast signals to the body:
So what are the parameters that control the results of this process?
Caloric content and macronutrient composition of the meal determine the energy you’ll burn during digestion, absorption, and metabolism is called the Thermic Effect of Food(TEF).
Yes, a meal with a balance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins can lead to a higher TEF compared to a meal with just one type of macronutrient.
The cumulative effect of TEF increases since we are kick starting this process multiple times. Converting calories into energy is a front-loaded energy curve.
But it has a ceiling, so staggering them causes maximum conversion at the end of the day.
Notice that the slump now coincides with the end of the day and sleep. This aids a deeper more restful sleep.
Eating frequent, smaller meals may help regulate blood sugar levels, reduce hunger, and maintain energy levels throughout the day.
Contrary to popular belief, the reason for the afternoon slump is not caffeine or lack of it. Rather it is a natural dip in blood sugar at the end of the digestion cycle. Eating a meal just at this slump, i.e. breaking up meals can counteract this slump or even prevent it all together in some studies.
As many who have tried fasting will tell you: ’hunger passes, you get used to it’. The reason is the hunger response is not necessarily out of a famished bodily function, rather a scheduled response to absence of food. What this means is we can exploit this to eat less and feel fuller throughout the day. The simple framework to do this is laid out in the next section.
Reducing calories in this case becomes more of a perfect science rather than a hit or miss art. To make this framework work all of these must be met in your meals:
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