The metabolic response of young women to changes in the frequency of meals

Abstract

1. Six healthy young women residing in a metabolic unit, but continuing their normal activities, received a uniform diet for 27 days, subdivided into four periods of 6 days and a final collection period of 3 days.2. The daily food was divided into equal-sized portions; the subjects ate their daily quota as three meals a day in periods 1, 3, and 5 (control), two meals in period 2 (gorging), and nine meals in period 4 (nibbling).3. The metabolic response of each subject was investigated by measurements of energy expenditure, and by analysis of the food, the urine and the faeces.4.The subjects showed distinct differences in response, but for most subjects the changes in body-weight and in the metabolism of nitrogen and fat appeared unrelated to the frequency of the meals.