How Many Meals Should You Eat per Day? Is Breakfast Important?

Several factors can influence your performance in training – and in life – such as the quality of your sleep, the food you consume, the amount of water you ingest, and much more.

Concerning your diet, having healthy habits and consuming foods with high nutritional value will be crucial to progress along your fitness journey and have better health. But what about how often do you eat? Should we be eating three meals a day? What is the truth about how often should you eat?

Today’s article will answer these questions and address another extremely controversial topic within the fitness universe: the importance of breakfast for your routine. Are you ready? Let’s do it!

The influence of meal frequency on health

There are many controversies and studies regarding how we should organize our meals throughout the day. To try to answer this question, we went after some widely cited scientific studies that bring interesting insights on this topic.

Study #1 – The influence of meal frequency and timing on health in humans: the Role of fasting

This first study, published in 2019 in the National Library of Medicine, indicates that recent research has shown a significant increase in the risk of diseases with a high frequency of meals (≥6 meals/day) compared with a low frequency of meals (1- 2 per day).

Although it is still difficult to state the actual impacts of each practice, the same study says that breakfast and evening meals can be significant, as long periods of fasting can influence your energy and macronutrient intake.

Still, regular fasting periods can be beneficial for reducing inflammation, improving your circadian rhythmicity (which affects your sleep and energy levels), increasing stress resistance, and more.

Study #2 – International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: meal frequency

The second study states that increased meal frequency may not significantly affect weight loss/gain. The same document also states that most recent research does not support the idea that increasing meal frequency affects the resting metabolic rate or total energy expenditure.

In contrast, in a situation of limited energy (or food) intake, increased meal frequency can help decrease hunger and improve lipid oxidation and blood markers (such as total cholesterol, LDL, and insulin).

Another important factor mentioned in the study is the quality of the meal – real meals vs snacks. Although there is no conclusive data on this aspect, we know that, in most cases, nutritious meals are more complete than snacks. Therefore, the quality of the food you eat can be more decisive than the frequency of your meals.

Study #3 – Scientific Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (USDA – 2020)

As in other studies, finding adequate evidence to relate food frequency to health improvements or risks was not possible. Still, this analysis revealed various patterns according to socioeconomic and demographic factors.

An interesting insight was that the quality of Americans’ diets improved when their daily meal intake increased from 2 to 3 – with moderate nighttime eating.

Another relevant factor mentioned by the Dietary Guidelines Report is the importance of implementing food standards, with adequate nutrition and food distribution that can support your health daily.

So, if you have a job or a routine that demands a lot from your body, try to consume more foods of high nutritional value, in addition to noticing your body’s signals when you eat more, less, skip meals, or deviate from your eating pattern.

Is skipping breakfast bad for you?

This is another highly controversial subject when discussing health and the best practices and strategies within the fitness universe. After all, is skipping breakfast bad for your health?

We would love to share relevant scientific research that supports any kind of thesis regarding the side effects of skipping breakfast, but the truth is that, so far, there are no studies that can precisely state that skipping breakfast is bad for your health.

It is worth remembering that, during our curatorship, we prioritize using scientific studies that have been widely cited or that reach conclusive answers on the analyzed topics. In addition, we avoid using studies that use small samples or suggest the need for further in-depth studies to support their thesis – as is the case with most online documents discussing breakfast’s health impacts.

Does skipping breakfast help to lose weight?

This is another very controversial question regarding adopting a healthy lifestyle. After all, what skipping breakfast does to your body?

The truth is that there are also no conclusive studies that can claim that skipping breakfast helps to lose weight. Even though many people skip breakfast and lose weight, it’s more accurate to say that this occurs by controlling or reducing calorie intake – and not necessarily by skipping breakfast.

If you are interested in adopting a healthy lifestyle, or simply understanding more about how to maintain your weight, be sure to read our articles on macronutrients and protein intake benefits! There, we share essential information for you to better understand how your body works – and how what you eat affects your health.

Conclusions about how often you should eat and the importance of breakfast

As with any other article we have written, we would like to remind you that we intend to share quality information based on conclusive and relevant scientific studies.

Still, you should never decide about your health without consulting a doctor or specialist. If you’ve never talked to your doctor or a nutritionist about your eating habits, we strongly recommend that you do. Remember that everything that involves your health is not an expense but an investment.

There are several ways to build your diet. Some rely on approaches such as skipping breakfast, reducing your calorie intake at night, intermittent fasting, or simply spacing out your meals – but you shouldn’t make this decision alone.

Remember that abruptly changing your diet can affect your energy levels, body recovery, and overall life performance. In this sense, there is nothing better than consulting a professional who can tell you what is best for your body.

Don’t forget that every organism is unique, and what works for the others won’t necessarily work for you!