Research

Hormonal

Increasing meal frequency (3 meals + 3 snacks daily) does not promote greater weight loss, fat loss, or appetite control compared to a lower meal frequency (3 meals daily) when total energy intake is equated.

If you are trying to lose weight, you do not need to force yourself to eat 6 small meals a day. Whether you choose to eat 3 meals or 3 meals plus 3 snacks, your weight loss will be the same as long as you consume the same total calories. Choose the pattern that best fits your lifestyle and hunger cues without exceeding your calorie target.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
We conclude that increasing MF does not promote greater body weight loss under the conditions described in the present study.
Jameason D. Cameron et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2009

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial with clear inclusion criteria, though the sample size is small (n=16) and duration is short (8 weeks).

Source

Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss in subjects who were prescribed an 8-week equi-energetic energy-restricted diet

Jameason D. Cameron et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2009

DOI 10.1017/s0007114509992984

rct · n=16Cited 94×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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