Sunday, February 1, 2009

Do You Know The 6 Meals A Day Myth?

By Caleb Lee

Do you certainly have to eat 6-8 small meals to keep your metabolic rate rise so you melt fat all day and keep a constant stream of nutrients flowing to sculpt lean muscle?

If you've been around the fitness scene for any amount of time, or have read any diet books or articles, you would think the answer to this one is an easy yes " but the truth is

The 6-8 meals a day Advice Is A False Report!

The advice is based on studies made around the thermic effect of food (TEF). You see, every time you eat, your body uses approximately 10% of those calories (total) to supply strength just to digest the food...

When this was realized, people misunderstood the research by saying the more you eat (frequency) the more calories you'll burn all day but then again this was an error for the reason that the math doesn't work out.

* Six small meals of 300 calories (6-300) = 1800 calories total.

* Every meal you burn 10% of calories = 30 calories burned with each 300 cal meal

* Total cals burned due to TEF = 180

Therefore weigh that to a normal diet of 3 heavy meals:

* 3 Heavy Meals of 600 calories (3-600) = 1800 calories total.

* Every single meal you burn 10% of calories = 60 calories burned with every 600 cal meal

* Total cals burned because of TEF = 180

So you see, if the calories are alike, it doesn't matter how you divide them up " you're still burning the same amount of calories and altering your metabolism the exact same way no matter how you eat regularly.

Will Eating More Often Lead To More Lean Muscle Gain?

The quick answer is not at all. Eating protein continuously in reality triggers your body not to produce it as much. Eating more total calories WILL result in building extra muscle but the meal frequency has not much to do with it.

More important for lean muscle gain is the timing of your meals, specifically the post workout meal needs to be high quality to make sure you're getting good nutrients into your body when it needs them the most.

Will Eating Fewer Meals Lead To Muscle Loss?

Lots of guys who lift weights believe (and I used to) that not eating 6-8 meals per day will put your body into a catabolic state. Which means because you're not eating a lot of food and keeping the levels of amino acids in your blood high your body will use your muscle tissue as fat.

This is not true either at least not to the extent that you've heard. Because even if you just eat one big meal per day, it can take up to 12 hours to digest" steadily releasing amino acids into your bloodstream the whole time.

When Must You Eat 6-8 Meals

To obtain a LOT of weight " you need to improve your calorie intake to gain weight and put on muscle, therefore if you're a huge guy and you have to eat 5,000 calories a day to put on mass it might be easier on your stomach and digestive system to consume 5,000 calories broken up into a group of smaller amount of meals.

If you're making use of loads of energy " If you're a top athlete who burns a ton of energy like Michael Phelps who consumes to 12,000 calories each DAY and eats like an elephant. Likewise guys in the military in boot camp frequently eat as much as possible when they get the chance but still turn out losing weight

If you love it - A number of people may possibly feel more satisfied 6-8 eating lesser meals each day grazing for their food intake. I'm not one of those people but more power to you if you are.

I believe being aware of this will surely help you feel improved in your search for better fitness, I know I believed this cock-and-bull story for a LONG time because nearly each and every one suggests it.

What Do I Do For Myself?

I execute infrequent fasting. And I ENJOY it. I vary between a warrior diet style eating schedule (when I'm keeping my weight) and the lean gains eating style when I'm concentrating on gaining muscle mass. - 15438

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