I don't know, actually. I've heard the idea repeated so regularly in diet and exercise literature that I'm not sure I've ever looked for studies on it. [1] is

I don't know, actually. I've heard the idea repeated so regularly in diet and exercise literature that I'm not sure I've ever looked for studies on it. [1] is the closest thing I can find on the subject, which showed that high-frequency diets substantially reduced insulin levels in the blood. This seems to be the Ur-study from which the idea was spawned. On the other hand, you have [2] which shows that even though glucose levels fluctuated more on 3-meal plans, resting metabolism and satiation were both higher, though there was no significant effect on fat oxidation. [3] suggests that regular meals (as opposed to irregular meals) "have beneficial effects on fasting lipid and postprandial insulin profiles and thermogenesis." Finally, [4] seems to sum up existing findings as "some for, some against, most neutral, tl;dr eat fewer calories". [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2674713 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2674713 [2] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038632 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.... [3] http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/1/16.short http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/1/16.short [4] http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=879792&fileId=S0007114597000093 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPag...