Chen's Acupuncture

Does Number of Meals Matter?

The science is still split

You’ve probably heard this advice many times: Eat smaller meals more frequently to lose weight. Unfortunately, science is still split on this issue. Some studies show a benefit to eating this way, while others find no discernible biological differences whatsoever. So which advice should you follow?

According to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, increasing meal frequency from three meals a day to three meals plus three additional snacks did not promote greater weight loss. Both groups consumed an equal amount of calories (2931 kJ/day) and both groups ended up losing a little less than five percent of body weight after eight weeks.

The best confirmed way to really boost your metabolism is exercise. When you exercise you clearly burn more calories, but you can super-charge your calorie burning mechanism even more by building muscle! Why is this? Because muscle demands energy to just “sit” on your body. Fat does not.

Hit the gym and lift some weights!

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

(Image courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography, Flickr under the creative commons license)

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