“Eating small, frequent meals throughout the day, known as grazing, has become a trend in recent years. It’s believed to boost metabolism, reduce hunger, and stabilize blood sugar levels. But is it effective? Some research shows that breaking up your ‘three square meals’ into all-day grazing may not actually benefit your health as much as people think. While some believe frequent meals can help with weight-loss, studies have shown that it actually has no affect on your daily caloric burn, or your overall metabolism.  

Constant grazing requires planning. If you do opt for more frequent meals, over time your body becomes used to being fed consistently throughout the day, and will expect food more often. Unless you’re always prepared with a daily meal plan, you may end up settling for convenience over nutrition, which can lead to poor nutritional choices.

Regular meals help regulate blood sugar. Spikes in blood sugar may be greater after a larger meal, however the overall blood sugar levels of a person who sits down to a few healthy meals each day is shown to be generally lower. Eating three nutritious meals a day can be the better option to regulate blood sugars. Studies also show that eating your main meal earlier in the day, like at breakfast, can help lower overall blood sugar levels. 

Grazing can prevent you from missing meals. While more frequent meals may not necessarily be the answer to your health and fitness goals, you want to be sure you’re not skipping meals either. Maybe some days work gets busy and you forget to eat lunch. By late afternoon, you may be famished and ready to eat whatever’s in front of you. This could lead to unhealthy snacking choices that you might not make if you’d eaten a balanced meal earlier in the day…”

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