Why Should We Eat 5 Times a Day?

"I am not hungry in the morning."

"I don't have time to eat."

"I would rather eat my calories at lunch or dinner."

I have heard all these statements from clients over the years. But we know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, just ask any mom out there. And yes she is right!  Why?  When you eat at 7am it begins your day and starts your metabolism.  If you wait until 12pm or 1pm to eat again you are more likely to overeat because you will need more calories to satiate that hunger.  When you do eat at 12pm your body thinks that you are in starvation mode and puts all those calories in fat storage.

Eating every 2 ½ to 3 hours is key to speeding up your metabolism.  The food is considered fuel to your metabolism and the more healthy food spread out thought out the day the more likely your metabolism is to speed up and burn at a faster rate. 

Another important reason to eat 5 times a day is to maintain proper blood sugar levels.  This is important to  healthy people not only diabetics.  When you are eating properly 5 times a day you have small rise and fall of your blood sugar.  If you are consuming 3 large meals you will have huge spikes and crashes of your blood sugar levels which will cause fatigue and cause havoc on your body’s natural process.

Finally, the last reason to eat 5 times a day is to increase your chances of meeting all your recommended daily allowances for vitamins/minerals.  Research has shown that people that each 5 to 6 times a day are more likely to vary their diet than those that eat 2 or 3 extremely large meals which helps to keep their body good health.