MEAL FREQUENCY - DOES IT DETERMINE POSTPRANDIAL LIPEMIA

Objective: To determine the effect of altering meal frequency on postp randial lipaemia and associated parameters. Design: A randomized open cross over study to examine the programming effects of altering meal f requency. A standard test meal was given on three occasions following: (i) the normal diet; (ii) a period of two weeks on a nibbling and (ii i) a period of two weeks on a gorging diet. Setting: Free living subje cts associated with the University of Surrey. Subjects: Eleven female volunteers (age 22 +/- 0.89 y) were recruited. Interventions: The subj ects were requested to consume the same foods on either a nibbling die t (12 meals per day) or a gorging diet (three meals per day) for a per iod of two weeks. The standard test meal containing 80 g fat, 63 g car bohydrate and 20 g protein was administered on the day prior to the di etary intervention and on the day following each period of interventio n. Major Outcome Measures: Fasting and postprandial blood samples were taken for the analysis of plasma triacylglycerol, non-esterified fatt y acids, glucose, immunoreactive insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotr opic polypeptide levels (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), fasti ng total, low density lipoprotein (LDL)- and high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol concentrations and postheparin lipoprotein lipase (L PL) activity measurements. Plasma paracetamol was measured following a dministration of a 1.5 g paracetamol load with the meal as an index of gastric emptying. Results: The compliance to the two dietary regimes was high and there were no significant differences between the nutrien t intakes on the two intervention diets. There were no significant dif ferences in fasting or postprandial plasma concentrations of triacylgl ycerol, non-esterified fatty acids, glucose, immunoreactive insulin, G IP and GLP-1 levels, in response to the standard test meal following t he nibbling or gorging dietary regimes. There were no significant diff erences in fasting total or LDL-cholesterol concentrations, or in the 15 min postheparin lipoprotein lipase activity measurements. There was a significant increase in HDL-cholesterol in the subjects following t he gorging diet compared to the nibbling diet. Discussion: The results suggest that previous meal frequency for a period of two weeks in you ng healthy women does not alter the fasting or postprandial lipid or h ormonal response to a standard high fat meal. Conclusions: The finding s of this study did not confirm the previous studies which suggested t hat nibbling is beneficial in reducing the concentrations of lipid and hormones. The rigorous control of diet content and composition in the present study compared with others, suggest reported effects of meal frequency may be due to unintentional alteration in nutrient and energ y intake in previous studies.