Metabolic effects of alterations in meal frequency in hypercholesterolaemic individuals

It has been suggested that the metabolic consequences of a given diet may depend in part on the frequency with which meals are eaten. To investigate the effects of meal frequency on plasma lipid metabolism, 16 free-living hypercholesterolaemic men and women consumed their usual diet as 3 or 9 meals/day in random order for 4 weeks. Dietary macronutrient intake and body weight remained similar on the 2 regimens. Fasting plasma lipids were measured after 2, 3 and 4 weeks on each regimen and there were no significant differences in the fasting concentrations of plasma total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A-I and B and the ratio of total: LDL and LDL:HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) on the two diets. The mean (+/- S.D.) fasting total cholesterol was 6.73 +/- 0.74 and 6.81 +/- 0.88 mmol/l on 3 and 9 meals/day, respectively and LDL-C was 4.77 +/- 0.66 and 4.87 +/- 0.78 mmol/l, respectively. There was also no significant variation in the response of plasma triglycerides or serum insulin to a high fat meal following a 3 week adaptation to regimens of 3 and 9 meals/day. Finally the 24 h urinary output of C-peptide was similar on each diet. The consumption of isoenergetic diets as 3 and 9 meals/day did not influence fasting plasma lipid levels, C-peptide excretion or the plasma triglyceride response to a high fat meal of a group of free living hypercholesterolaemic subjects.