Nutrition
Do you need to eat six times a day to lose weight?
The short answer
A 2024 meta-analysis found small differences in weight in favour of, among other things, fewer eating occasions. The clinical significance was uncertain, and the research does not define an ideal number of meals for everyone.
In practice
Choose a meal rhythm you can stick to and look at your diet as a whole. Meal-prep planning can be practical here, without three or six containers being a weight-loss method in themselves.
The nuance
The researchers called for better studies with, among other things, comparable energy intake and longer follow-up. So fewer eating occasions is not a guaranteed solution either.
