Research has shown that larger less frequent meals produces a greater thermic effect of food and provides advantages of dissipating more energy as heat due to the extra energy required to first store the excess calories, and them to mobilise them for oxidation. However, research suggests that increasing meal frequency may have physiological benefits that include increased insulin sensitivity, reduced blood glucose levels and a reduction in serum triglycerides. This results because smaller more frequent meals do not overload the metabolic pathways and thus nutrients are oxidised as they are absorbed to the blood. Because the spreading of calories is beneficial to the blood glucose and insulin levels, those with abnormal insulin metabolism may benefit from this approach with regard dietary meal patterns. More frequent but smaller meals may therefore be beneficial to those with type 2 diabetes.
For example, researchers1 have investigated the effects of increasing meal frequency as a way of slowing nutrient absorption in 11 patients with type 2 diabetes. Subjects consumed identical diets on two separate days, but the frequency of the meals was altered. On one day the subjects ate at 3 meals with 4 hours intervals and on the other day the meals were taken as 12 snacks with 1 hour intervals. In both cases an evening meal was also consumed. Consuming the food in smaller more frequent meals caused reductions in blood glucose and plasma insulin levels as well as a reduction in the inflammatory marker C reactive protein (CRP). In addition, there was an 8.5% reduction in serum triglyceride levels in those subjects consuming the more frequent meals. Compared to the normal meal pattern, urinary CRP was still lower at 24 hours following consumption of smaller meals.
These results suggest that increasing meal frequency has beneficial metabolic properties on blood glucose and plasma insulin and may have anti-inflammatory effects. If the benefits of this meal pattern is due slower absorption and more controlled oxidation of nutrients, this may also explain at least in part, the benefits of fibre in the control of type 2 diabetes. There were no changes in the concentrations of branched chain amino acids in the frequent meal consumers, which require insulin for transport. This suggests that oxidation of skeletal muscle had been reduced. The reductions seen in free fatty acids and 3-hydroxybutyrate, which are the main competing substrates for oxidation, suggest that oxidation of the food as it was ingested which reduced the need for mobilisation of additional energy from adipose and skeletal muscle respectively. Increased meal frequency may therefore be beneficial to those with diabetes.
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