Effect of feeding frequency and schedules on diet induced thermogenesis in humans, a systematic review

Total energy expenditure (TEE) has three components: basal expenditure, physical activity expenditure, and diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT). This last component, although represents 10% of TEE, if is altered, could have a long-term effect on body weight. Different factors have been shown to influence DIT, including diet composition. However, other factors such as feeding frequency and schedules have been studied for their role in altering DIT. This systematic review explores the research regarding the frequency and timing of feeding and its effect on DIT in humans. A search was made in the PubMed and Web of Science databases, which gave a total of 542 potential articles; 528 were excluded and 14 articles were used for this systematic review in accordance with the inclusion criteria. Although the results are still incipient, the effect of the circadian rhythms that influence the increase of the DIT in response to the morning meal when comparing it with night, as well as the increase in the DIT after the implementation of regular feeding frequencies and decreased DIT after the variable feeding frequencies, stand out. Finally, a tendency to increase in the DIT when the interprandial periods are equal to or greater than two hours and a decrease when these periods are less than two hours were also observed. These results point to a research field with therapeutic potential in the prevention and control of overweight and obesity.