What’s the best choice when it comes to eating habits surrounding meal frequency: eating several smaller meals or three larger meals throughout a day? The answer might not be the same for everybody.

Many studies suggest that smaller, more frequent meals may be healthier overall. Yet, mixed results from other recent studies suggest there is no significant difference between several small meals or three large ones. Instead, you must find the option that works best for you and your lifestyle.

Here’s a little more on what the research has to say:

Metabolism

One argument for eating several small food portions throughout the day is that it keeps your metabolism revved. Your body uses energy to digest food, so the theory is that the more frequently you eat, the more calories your body is burning. Researchers fed study participants the same number of calories divided into either one or four meals and found that increased meal frequency also increased post-meal energy expenditure and fat utilization.

However, other studies did not find significant differences in resting metabolic rate or energy expenditure between low and high meal frequencies.

Weight Loss

Even if the frequency of your eating habits doesn’t have an effect on calories burned, does it influence how many calories you consume? The research is mixed as well. Two studies—one in obese men and one in lean men— assessed how eating breakfast as one meal vs divided into four smaller food portions would influence appetite and energy consumption. In both cases, increased meal frequency lowered hunger and appetite, which may mean that several small meals may potentially prevent you from overeating. That being said, only the lean men ended up consuming less in the following meal.

Chronic Disease Risk Factors

Maintaining normal blood sugar and lipid levels is key for preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Some studies have found that eating smaller food portions reduces insulin excretion, while others did not find any significant difference in insulin or blood sugar responses.

Mixed results have been found with lipid and cholesterol levels, too. In one clinical trial, participants were randomized to eat either three meals a day or three meals plus three snacks a day. There were no differences in metabolic variables except for an increase in HDL (aka the good cholesterol) in the 3-meal group. Yet, another small study compared three vs nine meals per day and found that more frequent meals significantly decreased LDL (aka the bad cholesterol).

The Bottom Line

This one will be specific to each reader. With various findings on eating habits, likely due to varying study designs, more research is needed. Regardless, what’s most important is the quality of food you eat, the proportion of nutrients you eat and understanding your behavior and lifestyle.

If you tend to be a snacker or want to try out a more frequent eating routine, Life’s Abundance supplements are an excellent option. We designed them to fill the most common gaps with a variety of clean, plant-based and organic ingredients. Of course, it helps that they’re convenient and delicious!

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When it comes to our furry friends, some of them have a little more to love. While we have to admit that a little pudge can be cute, extra weight on pets can come with some serious health risks, including heart disease, osteoarthritis and kidney disease. You may think that lessening their food intake will do the trick and solve the problem, but that can leave your dog hungry and begging for more with those sad puppy dog eyes. So instead of cutting back, there’s an important ingredient you can look for in their foods that allows you to give them the full serving size and still help them lose weight.

What is L-carnitine?

If you haven’t heard of L-carnitine, it’s probably because it hasn’t been talked about much in the pet food industry. However, it turns out that this nutrient can have a huge impact on your pet’s weight. This vitamin-like compound is made in the body from the amino acids lysine and methionine. It supports many systems, including their heart, brain, and muscles. It’s mainly found in red meat but it is also present in chicken and fish, or as a dietary supplement. There are some additional benefits to L-carnitine including increased exercise performance and higher lean mass - all the things you’d want for your furry friend.

How does it work?

Let’s talk science! L-carnitine turns fats into energy, rather than storing them in fat cells. It does this because it is water-soluble, meaning it has the ability to attach itself to fatty acids that are then taken to the mitochondria. In this powerhouse organelle, the compound is broken down and converted into energy which is then distributed throughout the body and primarily used in the brain and heart. This whole process eventually reduces the storage of fat in cells and therefore results in overall weight loss.

Weight health for dogs

It’s important for your pup to maintain a healthy weight because we want them to stick around for many years by our side. There are a few different routes you can take to help them lose weight, including the usual playing fetch outside and the right foods and healthy treats. Choosing a good diet is paramount to your companion’s health so they can continue to receive the nutrients needed while still shedding some weight. For most dogs, L-carnitine naturally occurs in the body. However, when our furry friends start to age, they could start to exhibit a deficiency. As a result, they can begin to gain those extra pounds and it can be beneficial to supplement their diet with additional L-carnitine to kickstart their metabolism.

L-carnitine in our Adult Weight Loss Dog Food

At Life’s Abundance, providing high-quality, premium foods have always been important to us. That’s why we created foods that are suitable for all kinds of dogs, including those that are on the pudgy side. Our Adult Weight Loss Dog Food is enhanced with a sufficient amount of L-carnitine to help them utilize fat and support a healthy metabolism. In addition, this dog food has higher protein levels to promote an energetic body (meaning you get all the zoomies) but less fat and calories to maintain a healthy weight. In other words, it is nourishing for a truly satisfied appetite; not just filling with empty calories. Plus, to give you that extra confidence in this kibble, it has been proven through a feeding trial as defined by Association of American Feed Control Officials. Now, you can give your beloved furry friend the nutritious, tasty meal they want and need, without the guilt.

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Are You Overlooking Your Dog's Weight Problem?

I have a confession to make.

My dog is officially a chonk.

Like many others with more than one dog in the house, I have one dog who is ambivalent about food and one who loves food with a deep and abiding passion. One eats to live, one lives to eat. Guess which one is the retriever.

I tried to keep my life simple by just having one kind of dog food in the house, but even when we were measuring the food it seemed like Ollie was getting a little wider by the month. A Nest cam confirmed my suspicions- once Dakota wandered away from his bowl, Ollie would run over and scarf up a mouthful of extra kibble as soon as we left the room. I appreciate his resourcefulness, if not the results. Too much to love.

Obesity is a huge problem in veterinary medicine; in fact, almost half the dogs in the United States are overweight or obese. I’m not happy with myself that I let this sneak up on me, as extra weight in dogs tends to compound: it increases their risk of orthopedic problems, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Bottom line: I need to turn this around.

If you are in the same boat with your dog or cat, look, it’s certainly not an unusual problem and I share my own story because I don’t want people to avoid facing the issue because they’re embarrassed, which happens a lot. We don’t often see ‘ideal weight’ dogs out in the world, and we’re pretty used to seeing overweight dogs without batting an eye. If your vet mentions your dog’s weight to you, take a breath and remind yourself that it’s good information to know so you can address it. This isn’t a conversation about what happened yesterday, it’s about what happens tomorrow. It is fixable. Your vet is there to help you with that.

So now what?

Back in the day, advice surrounding weight loss was pretty straightforward: feed them less. Now that we know more, we address it a little differently than saying just to cut back on their regular maintenance food. Dog foods contain a static amount of nutrients mixed into the formulation: for example, if your dog eats 1 cup of food and gets 50 milligrams of a vitamin, cutting the food to ½ cup would mean they’re now only getting 25 mg of that vitamin. Dramatic reductions of their regular dog food could lead to malnourishment.

A better approach: pick a dog food designed for weight loss or weight management. These foods have lower caloric density, meaning there are fewer calories per cup than standard food. This means the pup gets to eat more and doesn’t end up doing that panicked “I’m starving” routine that leads all too many pet owners to give in and go back to their old habits.

Instead of halving the volume of food and also halving the nutrients, this option keeps the volume of food and the amount of vitamins the same. The dog still gets to eat a full cup of food and gets that full 50 mg of vitamins, that cup just has fewer calories. That is the beauty of weight management diets.

You’d think it would be pretty easy to figure out how much food to feed, but if you’ve ever actually attempted it you know it’s trickier than it looks. Yes, the bags may give you a range of how much food to feed, but it’s pretty vague. Pets have different metabolisms and different activity levels, so one 50 pound dog may require fewer calories than another to lose the same weight. It’s just like people! We all have that friend who can eat and eat and eat and still remains svelte no matter what, while others just look at a bag of chips and seem to gain five pounds.

If I wanted to know how many calories I ate today, there are tons of apps that can help me figure that out. They have tens of thousands of entries in their database with full caloric information. You’d think it would be easy to calculate the calories in dog food, but it’s not. Some foods tell you how many calories are in each cup (kcal/cup), but most don’t- meaning you have to call the company or try to find it online.

Even if you do know how many calories there are in a cup, how do you know your calorie goal for your canine? Your vet can give you a calculation based on your pet’s current weight and activity, target weight, and how quickly you’re trying to reach the goal. Once you know their calorie count for the day and how much food to feed, all you have to do is stick with it. Weigh it, use a measuring cup, but whatever you do, don’t eyeball it. That never works.

For mild to moderately overweight dogs, a standard weight management food can work just fine to get your dog where he or she needs to be. For pets with significant weight obstacles, sometimes the vet will recommend a prescription weight loss diet. It is even more calorie restricted than over the counter weight management foods, and often has additional components such as higher protein, higher fiber, and nutrients that specifically support veterinarian supervised weight loss. Once a pet reaches their ideal weight, they transition back to an over the counter food.

Over the counter weight management foods aren’t just for overweight dogs! They are also good maintenance diets for those who are prone to gaining weight.

What about treats? Like everything else, treats count as calories, so keep it to less than 10% of your dog’s intake and plan accordingly. You can get creative here with pet-safe veggies. Ollie gets lettuce at every meal now and he thinks it’s the best thing ever. In fact, Dakota got jealous and now will only eat if he, too, has a piece of lettuce on his food (I tried this trick on the teenagers, but it didn’t work).

Weight loss in pets is a very, very common problem and if you’re in the same boat, it’s ok. Yes, it’s work and takes some effort to come up with a plan as well as the commitment to follow through. But it can be done! Having your vet team on board helps a lot- that’s what they’re there for! Don’t be afraid to ask for their support and a specific weight loss plan to get back on track if you and your pup need the help.

I promise, it’s worth the effort.

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