People who are already overweight might eat less because their body doesn’t feel hungry — so it’s not that eating less makes you fat, it’s that being fat makes you eat less.

This study found that people who ate fewer meals per day tended to lose weight, but it didn’t look at whether being overweight or having metabolic problems made them eat less — so it doesn’t support the idea that body fat causes people to eat less.

This study found that eating earlier in the day makes people feel less hungry, but it didn’t look at whether being overweight or having hormone problems causes people to eat less — so it doesn’t support the claim that fat and hormone issues lead to reduced appetite.