The Link Between Snacking and Stunted Growth - AI Podcast

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Story at-a-glance

Research shows constant snacking disrupts children's growth hormone rhythms, reducing bone development by up to 17% compared to structured mealtimes
Regular meals trigger natural surges of growth hormone that strengthen bones, while grazing produces flat, ineffective hormone levels
In studies with both rats and humans, those eating structured meals had three times more growth hormone bursts compared to those snacking continuously
The body's hunger hormone (ghrelin) works properly with scheduled meals, helping trigger growth hormone release essential for skeletal development
To support healthy growth in children, implement consistent mealtimes, avoid between-meal snacks and serve nutrient-dense whole foods instead of processed varieties

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's Cellular Wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen
0:06.1	summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required.
0:10.5	Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights.
0:14.2	Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's Cellular Wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster, your host, and with
0:20.6	me is Alara Sky.
0:21.6	Today we're examining new research that ties children's snacking habits directly to their growth and bone strength.
0:28.6	Thanks, Ethan. The study we're discussing shows that constant grazing actually
0:32.6	flattens the natural surges of growth hormone children need,
0:36.6	cutting bone development by as much as 17%
0:39.4	compared with structured meals.
0:41.5	That 17% reduction is striking.
0:44.5	Let's start with the basics.
0:46.1	What does the body normally do hormonally when kids sit down to a regular meal?
0:51.0	When meals are clearly separated, the hunger hormone ghrelin rises before eating,
0:56.4	triggering a sharp burst of growth hormone afterward. Those pulses signal growth plates in bones to
1:02.1	lengthen, thickening skeletal structure in predictable, healthy waves. So if a child nibbles all day,
1:08.7	those growth-friendly peaks flatten out? Exactly.
1:11.6	In both rat and human experiments, continuous access to food kept growth hormone at a low, steady level,
1:18.6	never high enough to drive bone building.
1:20.6	Rats allowed to graze lost thickness in their growth plates, an early marker of stunted stature.
1:26.6	The researchers also compared male volunteers, fed through a tube all day versus two set meals.
1:32.9	What happened there?
	...

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