Two Meals a Day Better for Managing Diabetes, Scientists Say

Sharon Moore May 16, 2014

Only eating breakfast and lunch may be more effective at managing type 2 diabetes than eating smaller, more regular meals, new research found.

Diabetes affects nearly 2.9 million people in the UK are affected by diabetes, 90% of whom have the type 2 form of the disease. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough of the hormone insulin, which controls the amount of sugar in the blood, meaning blood sugar levels become too high.

Current advice in the UK recommends three meals a day, with healthy snacks.

For the study, researchers from the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine fed two groups of 27 people the same calorie diet spread over two or six meals a day. They found that volunteers who ate two meals a day lost more weight than those who ate six, and their blood sugar dropped.

Volunteers were then given either a six-meal-a-day diet (A6) for 12 weeks followed by a two-meal day diet (B2), or vice versa.

The study compared two meals with six meals - as the latter accorded with current practice advice in the Czech Republic, researchers said.

According to experts, the new study supported "existing evidence" that fewer, larger meals were the way forward.

The B2 group ate between 06:00 and 10:00 and then between 12:00 and 16:00, and the A6 group ate their food throughout the day.

Weight loss for the B2 group averaged 1.4kg (3lb) more than A6, and they lost about 4cm (1.5in) more from their waistlines.

Lead scientist Dr Hana Kahleova said the results were "very pleasing".

"The patients were really afraid they would get hungry in the evening but feelings of hunger were lower as the patients ate until they were satisfied.” she said.

Dr Kahleova said the study could apply to people without diabetes who were trying to lose weight. Meanwhile, Dr Richard Elliott, research communications officer at Diabetes UK, said the study added to evidence that eating fewer, larger meals a day could be more effective than smaller, frequent meals at helping people manage their condition. "However, larger studies over longer periods of time will be needed to back up these findings before we would make changes to the dietary advice given to people with type 2 diabetes."

Eating a healthy, balanced diet, being active and maintaining a healthy weight, alongside taking any medication is "vital" to effectively manage the condition, Dr Elliot said.

Source of this article:

Two meals a day ’effective’ to treat type 2 diabetes