Ladies, we have a question to ask you. Could you legitimately sit down and eat nine times a day? We’re only asking because some new research has revealed that eating nine meals per day could help you to cut your cholesterol levels and lose weight.
It sounds great, but honestly? It also sounds like a lot of hard work. Could you imagine trying to fit in nine meals a day? Well, we could if these meals involved copious amounts of chocolate and/or cake. Unfortunately, your nine meals have to be small and healthy. Boo hiss!
These small, healthy meals are supposedly better for your overall health and can even help you to effortlessly shift some extra weight.
In a study, researchers from London’s Imperial College, compared the diets of more than 2,000 people around the world. While all the participants ate the same calorie intake, half of them ate less than six times a day and the rest ate more than six times a day.
The results showed that the group which ate less than six times a day had a significantly higher blood pressure and were also much heavier than the group which ate more than six times.
“Splitting food intake so we eat many times a day will have metabolic benefits over and above the same food consumed in a small number of meals,” said Dr Susan Jebb, the head of the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research Unit.
Researchers recommend swapping your three meals for nine smaller, healthier ones.
However, it is important to remember that eating more frequently is not an excuse to eat more food than you actually need.
“The danger is that encouragement to “eat more frequently” becomes a licence to consume too many calories and that usually involves more fat, sugar and salt, too – all of which will negate the small effects of more frequent eating,” said Dr Jebb.
“One strategy might be to split your main meal into two, and save dessert for a mid-meal snack,” she added.
What do you think ladies? Could you swap your brekkie, lunch and dinner for nine small meals?
