The Healthiest People Don’t Follow Trendy Eating Schedules. Nutrition Science Says They Eat Whenever They Want
Health reasons aside (not that you need additional reasons, but still), a study published in Population Health Management determined that people who predominately make unhealthy food choices are two-thirds more likely to be less productive than those who actively make healthy choices.
That’s why plenty of people (and experts) focus on meal timing.
Like me. I eat a number of small meals throughout the day. Decades ago (I’m old), plenty of fitness experts said eating smaller meals throughout the day helped you absorb more protein, under the premise that your body could only handle 30 grams or so of protein at a time, and at the same time ensuring a steady supply of nutrients. Plenty of nutritionists said eating five or six small meals a day helped to boost metabolism and control hunger. (You’re less likely to feel really hungry when you know your next meal is right around the corner.)
So, that’s what I did. That’s what I still do. It works for me.
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But not because of the real, or imagined, underlying science.
In a study published in Journal of Nutrition, participants were placed in two groups. While both consumed the same number of calories and macronutrients, one group at three meals a day, the other six. The groups then swapped eating patterns.
The result? There was no difference in nutritional benefit, or on participant appetite.
Meal frequency also had no impact on grehlin, the hunger hormone that increases appetite and food intake, or on leptin, the hormone that signals fullness and suppresses appetite. (An imbalance in those hormones can naturally contribute to weight gain or loss.) Meal frequency also had no impact on inflammation. (Chronic inflammation can contribute to various health problems including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.
Add it all up, and my habit of eating five or six smaller meals a day? It isn’t necessarily optimal (if such a thing exists), but it also isn’t sub-optimal.
Someone else’s intermittent fasting? It isn’t necessarily optimal, or sub-optimal. Someone else’s three balanced meals a day? It isn’t necessarily optimal, or sub-optimal.
What matters, if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight, is how much you eat. What matters, if you’re trying to be healthy, is what you eat. (Check out Inc. colleague Jessica Stillman’s post on Harvard’s AHEI diet.)
Not when, or how often, you eat.
Granted, research shows taking in most of your calories earlier in the day is could be linked to lower odds of being overweight or obese. Research also shows eating close to bedtime can interfere with sleep and increase the risk of weight gain and metabolic issues. (Feeling too full when I go to bed definitely messes with my night’s sleep.) If when you eat affects how well you sleep, that will also affect your weight. A study published in Sleep found that reduced sleep leads to a significant increase in eating. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found lack of sleep causes increased activity in your brain’s reward centers specific to food, and affects some of the hormones that signal when you’re full.
So yeah: on the extreme end of the literal (and figurative) scale, when you eat can sometimes matter.
But what always matters more is whether when, and how often, you eat works for you. Eating five or six small meals a day works for me. My weight hasn’t fluctuated more than five or six pounds for the past 30 years.
Intermittent fasting may work for you. Three balanced meals a day may work for you.
The best eating schedule–like the best exercise routine, or morning routine, or any other routine–isn’t the one that’s trendy, or Andrew Huberman-approved, or even scientifically optimal.
The best eating schedule is the one you can stick with. Pretend intermittent fasting truly is the best way to eat; if you can’t stick to that routine, “best” is irrelevant. An eighty percent solution, followed consistently, always outperforms a 100 percent solution that you can’t actually do.
The key is to determine a kind of routine that works, and that you prefer, and embrace that.
Because when and how often you eat really doesn’t matter, as long as it works for you.
That’s why plenty of people (and experts) focus on meal timing.
Like me. I eat a number of small meals throughout the day. Decades ago (I’m old), plenty of fitness experts said eating smaller meals throughout the day helped you absorb more protein, under the premise that your body could only handle 30 grams or so of protein at a time, and at the same time ensuring a steady supply of nutrients. Plenty of nutritionists said eating five or six small meals a day helped to boost metabolism and control hunger. (You’re less likely to feel really hungry when you know your next meal is right around the corner.)
So, that’s what I did. That’s what I still do. It works for me.
Featured Video
Vibe-Coding for Beginners in Five Easy Steps
But not because of the real, or imagined, underlying science.
In a study published in Journal of Nutrition, participants were placed in two groups. While both consumed the same number of calories and macronutrients, one group at three meals a day, the other six. The groups then swapped eating patterns.
The result? There was no difference in nutritional benefit, or on participant appetite.
Meal frequency also had no impact on grehlin, the hunger hormone that increases appetite and food intake, or on leptin, the hormone that signals fullness and suppresses appetite. (An imbalance in those hormones can naturally contribute to weight gain or loss.) Meal frequency also had no impact on inflammation. (Chronic inflammation can contribute to various health problems including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.
Add it all up, and my habit of eating five or six smaller meals a day? It isn’t necessarily optimal (if such a thing exists), but it also isn’t sub-optimal.
Someone else’s intermittent fasting? It isn’t necessarily optimal, or sub-optimal. Someone else’s three balanced meals a day? It isn’t necessarily optimal, or sub-optimal.
What matters, if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight, is how much you eat. What matters, if you’re trying to be healthy, is what you eat. (Check out Inc. colleague Jessica Stillman’s post on Harvard’s AHEI diet.)
Not when, or how often, you eat.
Granted, research shows taking in most of your calories earlier in the day is could be linked to lower odds of being overweight or obese. Research also shows eating close to bedtime can interfere with sleep and increase the risk of weight gain and metabolic issues. (Feeling too full when I go to bed definitely messes with my night’s sleep.) If when you eat affects how well you sleep, that will also affect your weight. A study published in Sleep found that reduced sleep leads to a significant increase in eating. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found lack of sleep causes increased activity in your brain’s reward centers specific to food, and affects some of the hormones that signal when you’re full.
So yeah: on the extreme end of the literal (and figurative) scale, when you eat can sometimes matter.
But what always matters more is whether when, and how often, you eat works for you. Eating five or six small meals a day works for me. My weight hasn’t fluctuated more than five or six pounds for the past 30 years.
Intermittent fasting may work for you. Three balanced meals a day may work for you.
The best eating schedule–like the best exercise routine, or morning routine, or any other routine–isn’t the one that’s trendy, or Andrew Huberman-approved, or even scientifically optimal.
The best eating schedule is the one you can stick with. Pretend intermittent fasting truly is the best way to eat; if you can’t stick to that routine, “best” is irrelevant. An eighty percent solution, followed consistently, always outperforms a 100 percent solution that you can’t actually do.
The key is to determine a kind of routine that works, and that you prefer, and embrace that.
Because when and how often you eat really doesn’t matter, as long as it works for you.