Eating smaller, frequent meals may not help weight-loss

Eating smaller and more frequent meals may not actually help you lose more weight than eating bigger portions less frequently, a study has found.

Some 24 lean and obese women were given either two or five meals on separate days. Both groups were given the same amount of calories to eat over the day, and their energy expenditure monitored.

Researchers, led by Milan Kumar Piya, found all the participants burned a similar amount of calories over the day.

The study also found that fragments of gut bacteria, known as endotoxins, entered the blood streams of obese women significantly more than the lean women after eating. The findings indicate obese women who eat more often have a greater risk of metabolic disease, such as type 2 diabetes.