Are any of you guys familiar with the hormone leptin? My sister’s been reading this book called “The Leptin Principle”, and she keeps telling me that my 5 meals a day are sabotaging my efforts to burn fat, and that I’m better off eating the usual 3 meals a day instead??
What are your thoughts on this guys?
Look at those that eat frequently and those that eat 3x a day. Typically, leaner people eat more often.
It helps control blood sugar levels which is essential for fat loss.
Joel Marion has spoken on this recently, from what I understand his book deals a lot with Leptin. Check his article library. Keep in mind there are a lot of hormones other than leptin that need to be kept in check and manipulated as well.
The amount of leptin is controlled by your level of body fat … it suppresses hunger in fat people. It’s got little/nothing to do with your eating pattern (someone correct me if I’m wrong, but in the three separate bio courses that have discussed it, I’ve never heard that).
Studies and empirical evidence consistently point to the superiority of smaller frequent meals in fat loss.
Leptin is extremely complicated. Unless you’re already lean or have been dieting for a long time, I wouldn’t focus on it too much.