Why do we eat 3 meals a day??

I received an email from my friend J. He writes:

So why do we eat three times a day? Over the last couple of weeks I have been eating just when I am hungry and I have found more often than not this is about once a day, (does not include coffee and water) at most twice but almost never three times. Sometimes its breakfast, yesterday it was a very nice lunch.

So why do we eat three times a day? Do we need it? Are we just programmed to do it? Is there any benefit to it? I have read studies about the fact that people who eat breakfast are usually thinner but perhaps this is because they don’t gorge themselves at lunch.

Great questions all -- to which I answer:

Eating 3 times a day is a social construct.

From a blood sugar perspective, we would all do well to eat 6 small meals per day -- this will have the effect of stabilizing our blood sugar and insulin release so it is more like rolling hills than the Rockies.

As for being hungry -- maybe your are more hungry than you realize but just don't notice it during the day while you are busy doing other things. Or... you are not workouting out as much (burning as many calories) as you have in the past and your body doesn't send hunger signals because you do not need the calorie intake.

Eating one or two meals a day is kind of a misrepresentation on how much food you are taking in. If you are having a fairly calorie dense meal (think pasta, alfredo, bread and oil, etc) you are obviously going to take in a greater number of calories in a given amount of time than if you were eating a dinner salad (lettuce, tomato, and cucumber -- no dressing) in the same amount of time. Therefore, it depends on what you are eating.

From eating with you in the past, I think I am fairly safe in saying that you do not spend that much time debating on what you "should" be eating and doing battle with yourself about how that stacks up against what you want to eat. You eat whatever you decide -- on to a level of fullness you find acceptable -- and then you move on.

Coffee acts as a mild appetite supressant and when you add the cream, those are the calories that get you started in the morning. The other consideration is any soda, beer or wine will have calories. Calories are what your body is really after -- doesn't really matter, from a hunger perspective, where they come from.

Lastly, you mentioned the studies about people who eat breakfast losing more weight or being able to manage their weight more effectively. You hit it right on the head with the thought that it is about the decisions people make when they are very hungry. If a person gets very hungry, they tend to overconsume when they do finally eat.