Nutritionist Sarah Di Lorenzo: How many meals a day is ideal — how to make spacing work for you and your diet

One of the most common questions I get asked in the clinic is whether it is better to eat three meals a day, graze across five or six smaller ones, or follow an intermittent fasting window.

The evidence does point to some clear principles that work for the vast majority of people, particularly women navigating the hormonal shifts of midlife.

Throughout human history, the three-meals-a-day structure we consider normal is actually a very recent invention.

Ancient Egyptians and Greeks typically ate two meals — a light morning offering of bread, olives, or wine-dipped grain, and a larger communal meal in the evening.

Medieval Europeans followed a similar pattern, with a substantial midday dinner and a lighter supper at dusk, while breakfast was largely considered a sign of weakness or reserved for labourers and children.

It was not until the Industrial Revolution that fixed factory working hours and artificial lighting imposed the familiar breakfast-lunch-dinner structure.

What is similar across every era before this is that humans consistently ate fewer, larger, more purposeful meals and there was natural fasting in between, no constant grazing and snacking that has become the hallmark of modern life, and which the evidence increasingly suggests is working against our metabolic health.

Let’s look at the research. For decades the nutrition advice was “little and often” and the idea of eating five to six small meals a day would keep your metabolism working well and blood sugar stable but this advice has not held up well.

The recent evidence suggests that eating frequent small meals a day keeps insulin elevated throughout the day which actually blocks fat burning.

So every time you eat, even a small snack, your body releases insulin to manage the incoming glucose. Chronically elevated insulin tells the body to store more fat, not burn it.

For women with insulin resistance, which becomes more common in perimenopause, grazing and many small meals can work against metabolic health even if healthy.

The evidence now really does support three solid structure meals a day with around four to six hours in between.

This allows insulin to return to baseline between meals giving the body a window to access and burn stored fat for fuel.

As well each meal needs to have adequate protein anywhere between 20 to 40 grams which you need to be able to trigger muscle protein synthesis.

Three later meals will get you across the anabolic threshold — instead of five or six smaller meals across the day — and support metabolic health and body composition.

This is really important, especially for women over the age of 40.

Meal timing matters more than people really understand.

I always insist on breakfast for general health which should be eaten within two hours of waking.

This is all about aligning with your circadian rhythm to better support insulin sensitivity, cortisol regulation and energy throughout the day.

Research shows that those who eat early in the day have better blood sugar control and body composition than those who eat the same amount of calories but eat later in the day.

Skipping breakfast and eating big dinners is something I see a lot of in my clinic and is one of the most metabolically disruptive habits you can have.

When it comes to dinner you should always have it three hours before going to bed.

When you eat close to dinner time you disrupt melatonin production and can raise core body temperature, plus impair the deep sleep stages where all the magic happens where growth hormone is released which is essential for muscle repair and maintenance.

Poor sleep also drives cortisol levels the following morning that drives hunger and cravings becoming cyclic and very frustrating.

I always tell my patients to try and keep 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, overnight is where the magic happens.

You give your body time to lower insulin, repair the gut lining, complete digestion and cellular clean up — also known as autophagy.

This is not to be confused with extreme intermittent fasting, just a reset. In doing this you have more energy in the morning, better weight management, better digestion and less bloating.

The perfect eating plan starts with protein for breakfast within two hours of waking, a substantial lunch (four to six hours after breakfast) and an early dinner.

If you do feel you need snacks in between meals it means that you are not having enough protein or fibre in your meal plan to satiate you, so you may need to rethink your meals.

I do find that snacking can be a useful tool for weight loss when in a caloric deficit to help get to your health goals.

The key is to eat three times a day (and make the meals count) and embrace the overnight window and gaps between meals.

This is evidence based and sustainable and it will support hormonal health, energy, body composition and your long term metabolic health.