Effects of meal frequency on energy utilization in rats

Abstract

The effects of differences in meal frequency on body weight, body composition, and energy expenditure were studied in mildly food-restricted male rats. Two groups were fed approximately 80% of usual food intake (as periodically determined in a group of ad libitum fed controls) for 131 days. One group received all of its food in 2 meals/day and the other received all of its food in 10-12 meals/day. The two groups did not differ in food intake, body weight, body composition, food efficiency (carcass energy gain per amount of food eaten), or energy expenditure at any time during the study. Both food-restricted groups had a lower food intake, body weight gain, and energy expenditure than a group of ad libitum-fed controls. In conclusion, these results suggest that amount of food eaten, but not the pattern with which it is ingested, has a major influence on energy balance during mild food restriction.

Meal frequency changes the basal and time-course profiles of plasma nutrient concentrations and affects feed efficiency in young growing pigs1

“…When reasoning at the same feed intake, the lack of changes observed herein with daily meal frequency for perirenal fat proportion and lipid contents in adipose tissues is in agreement with another study in growing pigs showing that lipid content in the empty body did not vary when pigs were fed 2 vs. 5 meals a day (Sharma et al, 1973). Similarly, body composition was unchanged in rats fed 2 vs. 10 to 12 meals at 80% of their usual food intake (Hill et al, 1988). Meal frequency probably did not change body composition of young animals, especially when genotypes capable of rapid lean growth are used.…”

“…Among the various nutritional factors affecting weight gain and tissue composition, little attention has been paid to meal frequency in growing subjects, especially when species other than humans (La Bounty et al, 2011) and rats (Cohn, 1963;Hill et al, 1988;Verbaeys et al, 2011) are considered. Moreover, data on body composition, nutrient use and tissue metabolism have rarely been acquired within the same study, which limits the comprehensive view of the biological responses to meal frequency due to confounding factors between studies.…”

Effects of feeding frequency on meat quality traits and Longissimus muscle proteome in finishing pigs

“…These results agree with experiments showing an improved growth performance and higher fat proportion in the carcass of nibbling pigs compared with meal-fed pigs (O'Hea and Leveille, 1969;Allee et al, 1972). However, previous studies showed that body composition was not different between rats or pigs fed 2 vs. 12 meals per day (Hill et al, 1988;Le Naou et al, 2014). Consistent with the results of Faucitano et al (2006), decreased meal frequency was associated with lower dressing percentage.…”

Metabolic impacts of altering meal frequency and timing – Does when we eat matter?

“…This study is in contrast to rats that gained more weight when allowed to nibble continuously, or fed 12 meals/d, as compared to rats that were fed 2 meals/d either ad libitum or at 1.25Â energy requirements [60]. Of note, increased meal frequency did not differentially affect weight, body composition or energy expenditure after 131 days of consuming a 20% energy restricted diet in rats [61]. Similarly, Bortz et al reported no effects of increased meal frequency on weight loss following a 600 kcal/d diet in obese women [62].…”