One popular weight loss theory suggests that if you eat five small meals spaced evenly throughout the day, you’ll burn more calories than you would sticking with the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner. A study published in the journal Nutrition attempts to debunk that idea using 24 normal weight and obese female subjects between the ages of 34 and 42.

On one day, the subjects ate five meals and on another they sat down to just three. Because they consumed the same amount of calories over both 24-hour periods, they ended up burning the same number of calories. Researchers felt this demonstrated that frequent eating doesn’t increase the rate of metabolism.

True Strength Moment: While there may be some truth to these findings, eating balanced smaller meals more often throughout the day might be beneficial to very active adults trying to restore energy levels and promote muscle recovery between workouts. For interesting research on portion control, read today’s Performance Blog at ABBperformance.com