According to new research from scientists at Georgia State University, active folks who skimp on calories and eat infrequently (only three times a day) may be training their bodies to get by on less energy and therefore more readily storing unburned calories as bodyfat. In the study, published last March in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Dan Benardot, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., and colleagues evaluated eating frequency, energy balance, and body composition in 62 elite-level athletes (42 gymnasts and 20 runners). The researchers had the athletes recall everything they had eaten and what exercises they had performed. The data were then analyzed using a leading-edge procedure called Computer Time-Line Energy Analysis (CTLEA) to determine whether the athletes had stored more calories as fat than they burned or were burning more calories than they had stored. Researchers discovered that the athletes who ate infrequently were almost always the ones with the higher percentages of bodyfat. But, those who fed their bodies every few hours tended to be leaner. According to Dr. Benardot, the findings suggest that the body responds to consistent energy (i.e., calorie) deficits during the day by holding onto its resources, causing a reduction in the metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burns calories). This concurs with previous research, indicating that energy restriction may cause a reduction in the metabolic rate and a relative increase in bodyfat storage. Although intense exercise usually helps maintain or increase the metabolic rate, Dr. Benardot says these findings suggest that when coupled with an energy deficit state, the metabolic rate may well be reduced. “This apparent reduction is evidenced even in highly active runners and gymnasts, who have increased bodyfat percentages when energy deficits are present,” says Dr. Benardot. The leaner athletes in this study, suggests Dr. Benardot, may be sharing with other athletes and everyday exercisers a lesson in the value of eating smaller, more frequent meals—ideally six relatively low-fat, protein- and carbohydrate-balanced meals—throughout the day. “The idea that ‘three square meals is best,’ I have come to believe, is downright wrong,” says Dr. Benardot. “For instance, the calories typically consumed at a large breakfast could be cut in half, with the first half eaten at breakfast and the second half eaten at midmorning. Similarly, half of the calories consumed during lunch could be put off for midafternoon,” he says. As a practical conclusion, the study’s authors suggest exercisers should become more aware of the relationship between eating frequency and bodyfat. Write the researchers, “dietary restriction resulting in energy intake below estimated energy needs should be avoided, not only because inadequate energy impairs performance but also because bodyfat stores are increased.” They continue, “It appears clear from these data that consuming sufficient energy is better than not getting enough, and getting energy frequently (every two to three hours throughout the day) to prevent an energy deficit state [is optimal to maintain low bodyfat percentages].”
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