# Is Eating Several Small Meals Healthier Than Eating Fewer Large Meals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eating-several-small-meals-healthier-than-eating-fewer-large-meals/230694 "2004-02-23T16:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eating-several-small-meals-healthier-than-eating-fewer-large-meals/230694/1 "2004-02-23T16:23:48Z")
Suppose you have a person that eats a total of 3,000 calories per day. Would this person be any better off if he ate six 500-calorie meals a day as opposed to three 1,000-calorie meals or two 1,500-calorie meals a day? Are there any studies that support this ubiquitous claim?? How should a person distribute their daily caloric consumption in order to optimize their health? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![T.Mehr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@T.Mehr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Mehr)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eating-several-small-meals-healthier-than-eating-fewer-large-meals/230694/2 "2004-02-23T16:55:59Z")
The more stuff is laying in your bowls waiting to be processed, the more acid there is and the higher the risk to develp stomach ulcers. Eat slowly. chew good, distribute the food intake over the day. …or so I heard. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eating-several-small-meals-healthier-than-eating-fewer-large-meals/230694/3 "2004-02-23T17:36:51Z")
Read [this](http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/news/often.htm).