There are dietary recommendations for how many calories one should eat daily and what foods are the best choices to provide those calories, but not for how often one should eat in a day. Observational studies have suggested higher eating frequency (six small meals a day, for example, instead of three larger ones) may have health benefits, including lower total and LDL-cholesterol levels, fasting glucose levels, and blood pressure. However, participants in one small, randomized trial reported they felt hungrier when they ate more frequent meals. A randomized controlled trial set out to see how different eating frequencies impacted appetite and systemic inflammation.
Fifty healthy adults were given meal plans to follow for two 21-day periods. In one period, calories were consumed in three meals a day. In another, the same number of calories were spread out into six meals. Participants’ blood was tested for levels of hunger, satiety, and inflammatory markers at the beginning and end of each phase. Eating frequency did not impact either appetite regulation or inflammatory biomarkers.
This study shows that eating frequency alone does not impact appetite, nor does it lower inflammatory markers associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Participants followed personalized meal plans designed to keep their caloric intake and weight stable. This study does not rule out the possibility that eating frequency might impact the number of calories eaten and quality of foods chosen for some people if they are completely free to make their own food choices.