Maybe it's time to retire the concept of three square meals a day. New research suggests that two large meals are better for controlling weight and blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes than traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner breaks or even larger numbers of smaller meals.
The study – published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes – suggests that having just breakfast and lunch is better than up to six smaller meals with the same number of total calories.
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Lead researcher Dr Hana Kahleová, M.D., with the Diabetes Centre of the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague, tracked 54 diabetics (29 men, 25 women) who were asked to follow one of two regimens of a restricted calorie diet, each containing 500 calories less than the recommended daily amount. One diet included six smaller meals and the other 2 larger meals.
Both diet plans had the same nutrient and calorie levels.
The results showed both diets helped the participants lose weight and lower blood sugar levels, but the two-meal plan had more dramatic results.
"Eating only breakfast and lunch reduced body weight, liver fat content, fasting plasma glucose, C-peptide and glucagon … more than the same caloric restriction split into six meals," the researchers concluded. "These results suggest that, for Type 2 diabetic patients on a calorie-restricted diet, eating larger breakfasts and lunches may be more beneficial than six smaller meals during the day."
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