Meal | If you are hungry, you move more!

THREE OR FIVE MEALS A DAY?

Even our ancestors knew that they had to move to get food. Whether it was as a berry picker or a meat hunter. Nature puts movement before successfully obtaining food. At least that was the case in Neanderthal times. Today, a trip to the fridge is usually enough. But the behavioral pattern that hunger stimulates the urge to move is firmly ingrained in our genetic code.

Swiss researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have now discovered this. In doing so, they have also provided a valuable argument as to why three large meals might be better than five small ones spread over the day.

They conducted a series of experiments with mice and discovered that constant eating inhibits the urge to move. The problem is insulin levels. Those who eat more often keep their blood sugar levels high. But if the insulin level is high, a certain protein called "Foxa2" is suppressed. This protein influences the urge to move and has an impact on metabolism.

Foxa2 is involved in fat burning processes in the liver, among other things. It also influences the hypothalamus. This region of the brain controls food intake, among other things. In the hypothalamus, Foxa2 stimulates the production of certain hormones that control the urge to move and food intake, which, as already mentioned, influence each other.

URGE TO MOVE IS SUPPRESSED

Normally, the activity of Foxa2 is controlled by insulin levels. The longer it has been since a meal, the hungrier you are, the insulin levels drop and the protein becomes more active. The Swiss researchers found a disorder in obese mice. Foxa2 was inactive, regardless of insulin levels. The urge to move was therefore permanently suppressed in the fat mice, regardless of whether they were hungry or had just eaten.

As a counter test, the scientists bred a type of mouse in which Foxa2 was permanently active. And these mice actually moved five times more than the fat mice. In addition, their sugar and fat metabolism was accelerated. As a result, they not only broke down fat tissue and built up muscle mass more quickly, they also had better blood values.

The results from the mice can also be applied to humans. The Swiss therefore assume that the lack of motivation and unwillingness to exercise in obese people is due to the inactive Foxa2. In terms of diet, the researchers conclude that the body needs periods of hunger to stay healthy. According to the scientists, it is therefore better to eat three large meals a day rather than five small ones.