I would like to know if it is better to eat three well balanced meals a day, or six little meals a day. There is a lot of debate over which is better.

I tend to recommend multiple small meals. However, you're right about the debate. It stems from the fact that insulin, produced by the pancreas to handle sugars we have just eaten, completely stops the body from burning fat while it is in the bloodstream. (Its purpose is to cause fat storage, and you can't store and burn simultaneously.)

This state can be short-lived, however, as the insulin disappears quickly; you return to fat-burning status soon after. Therefore, the less you eat, the argument goes, the longer you can burn fat.

The problem (to me) stems from the contention that many Americans are oversensitive to carbohydrates, and get too large a surge of insulin when its production is stimulated. This allows for later insulin surges, on a cyclic basis, over hours, interfering with fat burning and other metabolic situations. So, even with a few meals per day, you can still have trouble. Multiple small meals tend to even some of this out, lessen appetite attacks (which ruin willpower and tempt us to junk food) and generally allow for lower overall caloric intake.

My opinion is also predicated, however, on the concept of snacking on higher-protein foods and moderate fat, neither of which stimulates insulin release. This bypasses the problem even better, while keeping appetite in check. With over 50 percent of the American public now clinically overweight (for the first time ever in history), it's clear that something is wrong with the low-fat diet fad, but that's another story.

Good Health,
A.N. Spreen, M.D.