Red Mountain Spa
How many of us eat a normal breakfast and then forget to eat the rest of the day? If weight loss is a goal for you, you may feel that skipping a couple of meals and reducing your calories is a way to accomplish that objective. Although it is important to regulate your caloric consumption, a diet that does not provide the appropriate number of calories to sustain normal physiology will, in reality, cause you to maintain higher percentages of body fat and weight.
There are two important concepts to consider when meal frequency is discussed. The first is something we call basal metabolic rate or BMR.
Basal metabolic rate is a measurement of the number of calories an individual will burn or use over a period of twenty-four hours at complete rest. It is important to remember that calories mean energy. An individual should never consume a diet that is below their basal metabolic rate. For example, let’s suppose that a person has a BMR of 1500 calories. In addition, through work and exercise activity, this person burns an additional 600 calories in a typical day. This means that each day there is an energy expenditure of 2100 calories. To achieve safe weight loss, which is considered to be 1-2 lbs per week, we might subtract a maximum of 500 calories. This means that this individual should consume no less than 1600 calories to support normal physiology and achieve optimal weight loss. What happens if this person consumes only 1100 calories? Will weight loss occur? The answer is yes. Will that person gain that weight back? The answer is most likely yes.
When we skip meals, which means we are not consuming at least 5-6 meals and/or snacks per day, we are most likely not meeting our caloric needs. In most cases we will be eating below our BMR and our metabolism will begin to slow and will want to store calories to assure that we have enough to survive. So the next time you feel that skipping meals and taking in less calories will equal weight loss, just ask yourself these questions: have I gone on a calorie restriction diet before and lost weight? Did I gain that weight back and more? You need to eat the right foods, the right portions and the right number of calories to lose weight effectively. This means small, frequent meals.
The second important concept involving meal frequency is the effects on insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is produced and secreted by the pancreas in response to blood sugar. It communicates with the cells of the body, which result in blood sugar being transported in to the cell where it is used to produce energy. Most individuals are able to properly regulate their blood sugar levels and therefore their blood insulin levels.
There are many individuals, however, who have problems regulating insulin and are maintaining consistently higher than normal levels of insulin. Poor regulation of insulin can lead to many age-related conditions including, but not limited to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Poor or infrequent eating habits have an influence on excess insulin production and the eventual condition known as sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) through the stimulation of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. A lifestyle of irregular meals contributes to increased insulin production, increased body fat and decreased muscle mass.
Skipping breakfast, for instance, or only eating two meals a day does not provide enough nutrition to prevent muscle loss and fat deposition. Three to four meals are significantly better than two. Five small meals per day would be better still. It’s permissible to regard two or three meals as “snacks”, provided they comprise sufficient ratios of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Are you a grazer or binger? Nature offers extreme examples of “grazers” and “bingers”. For example, deer graze; they eat small amounts consistently throughout their waking hours, and most deer are low-fat, high-muscle animals. Bears, on the other hand, eat like most humans do; they go extended periods of time without eating and then “binge” or eat large amounts of food or large portions. Does that sound familiar? Do we ever consider a restaurant good based on its portion sizes? All you can eat anyone? Can I super size that for you?
It is important to spread your meals evenly throughout the day. Your blood sugar and insulin levels and, thus, your energy level will be controlled; you’ll get available protein in smaller amounts to support muscle growth and recovery. Most importantly, this type of improved eating frequency will allow body fat to be mobilized as an energy source rather than to be stored on the waist and hips.
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Nutrition
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