Under normal circumstances, the nutrients needed for a day should be spread evenly among three meals. The calories consumed at each meal should account for about 1/3 of the total calories for the whole day, but lunch should not only supplement the calories consumed in the morning, but also provide energy for work and study in the afternoon. It can be more. Therefore, of the calories of three meals a day, breakfast should account for 25%-30%, lunch should account for 40%, and dinner should account for 30%-35%.
So, how should three meals a day be arranged?
People often say, "Eat well in the morning, full at lunch, and small in the evening." This health-preserving experience makes sense. Breakfast should not only pay attention to quantity, but also pay attention to quality. The staple food is generally starch-containing foods, such as steamed buns, bean buns, cornmeal steamed bread, etc., and some protein-rich foods should be appropriately added, such as milk, soy milk, eggs, etc., so that the blood sugar in the body can quickly rise to normal or exceed the normal standard. , thus invigorating people and enabling them to work and study energetically. Lunch should be eaten appropriately, and the quality should be high. Staple foods such as rice, steamed buns, cornmeal cakes, bean buns, etc., and non-staple foods should include foods rich in protein and fat, such as fish, meat, eggs, soy products, etc., as well as fresh vegetables to keep blood sugar in the body at a high level. , to ensure work and study in the afternoon. Eat a small dinner, which should be light and easy to digest, and should be eaten at least two hours before going to bed. If you eat too much for dinner and eat a lot of food containing protein and fat, it will be difficult to digest and affect your sleep. In addition, if people are inactive at night, eating too much can lead to overnutrition, which can also lead to obesity. Fat may also be deposited on the walls of arteries, leading to cardiovascular disease. Therefore, three meals a day should be arranged reasonably.
The dietary principles of scientifically matching three meals a day
Eat three meals a day. People eat not just to fill their stomachs or satisfy their cravings, but mainly to ensure the normal development and development of the body. healthy. Experiments have shown that with three meals a day, the protein digestion and absorption rate in food is 85; if it is changed to two meals a day, with each meal eating half of the whole day's food, the protein digestion and absorption rate is only 75. Therefore, according to the living habits of our people, generally speaking, three meals a day is quite reasonable. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the appropriate time between two meals. If the interval is too long, it will cause a high degree of hunger and affect people's labor and work efficiency; if the interval is too short, the stomach will not empty out of the previous meal, so they will continue to eat. The next meal will prevent the digestive organs from getting proper rest, and the digestive function will gradually decrease, affecting appetite and digestion. Generally, the time that mixed food stays in the stomach is about 4 to 5 hours. The interval between two meals is 4 to 5 hours, and if it is 5 to 6 hours, it basically meets the requirements.
◎Biological clock and three meals a day: Modern research has proven that digestive enzymes in the human body are particularly active during the three periods of morning, noon and evening, which shows that when people eat is controlled by the biological clock of.
◎The brain and three meals a day: The human brain accounts for a large proportion of the body's energy consumption every day, and the brain's energy supply can only be glucose, which requires approximately 110 to 145 grams per day. The liver can only provide up to about 50 grams of glucose from each meal. With three meals a day, the liver can provide enough glucose to the human brain.
◎Digestive organs and three meals a day: It takes about 30 to 60 seconds for solid food to travel from the esophagus to the stomach, and stays in the stomach for 4 hours before reaching the small intestine. Therefore, the interval between three meals a day is 4 to 5 hours, which is reasonable from a digestion point of view.
The choice of foods for three meals a day: What foods to choose for three meals a day, how to prepare them, and what methods to cook them are all very particular and vary from person to person. Generally speaking, the staple food and non-staple food of three meals a day should be matched in thickness, and animal food and plant food should have a certain proportion. It is best to eat beans, potatoes and fresh vegetables every day. The scientific distribution of three meals a day is determined according to each person's physiological condition and work needs. According to food intake, the ratio of breakfast, lunch and dinner is 3:4:3. If someone eats 500 grams of staple food every day, he should eat 150 grams in the morning and 150 grams in the evening, and 200 grams at noon is more appropriate.
Scientific combination of breakfast: Nutrition experts believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating a good breakfast every day can make people live longer. Eating a good breakfast means that you should eat some foods with high nutritional value, less but more refined. Because after a night of sleep, the nutrients eaten the night before have been basically used up. Only by replenishing nutrients in time in the morning can we meet the needs of work, labor and study in the morning. Breakfast is designed to be mainly foods that are easy to digest, absorb, and high in fiber. It is best to have the highest proportion of raw food, which will become the main source of energy for the day.
◎The importance of breakfast: After long-term observation, experts have found that if a person does not eat breakfast after getting up in the morning, the blood viscosity will increase and flow slowly, which will lead to heart disease over time. Therefore, a rich breakfast not only makes people energetic for the day's work, but is also beneficial to heart health. Teenagers who insist on eating breakfast are stronger and more disease-resistant than those who do not eat breakfast. They perform more prominently in school classes, concentrate during lectures, have better understanding, and generally have better academic performance. For working-class people, eating a good breakfast is also a guarantee for doing basic work well. This is because human brain cells can only obtain energy from nutrients such as glucose. After a night without eating and breakfast, the blood cannot Ensuring adequate glucose supply will make people tired and weak over time, and may even cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, etc., making it impossible to work energetically.
◎Elements of an ideal breakfast: Generally speaking, an ideal breakfast requires mastering three elements: meal time, nutritional content, and a balanced mix of staple and non-staple foods. Generally speaking, it is most appropriate to move for 30 minutes after getting up before eating breakfast, because people's appetite is strongest at this time. Breakfast should not only pay attention to quantity, but also pay attention to quality. For adults, the amount of staple food for breakfast should be between 150 and 200 grams, and the calories should be about 700 kcal. Of course, the calories required by people with different labor intensity and age are also different. For example, primary school students need about 500 kcal, and middle school students need about 600 kcal. In terms of food intake and calories, it should account for 30% of the total daily food intake and total calories of people of different ages. The staple food should generally be starch-containing foods, such as steamed buns, bean buns, bread, etc., and some protein-rich foods should be added appropriately, such as milk, soy milk, eggs, etc., along with some side dishes.
Scientific pairing of lunch:
As the saying goes, "If you are full at noon, you will be full for the day." Explain that lunch is the main meal of the day. Since the body consumes a lot of heat energy in the morning and continues to work and study in the afternoon, the lunch calories for people of different ages and physical strength should account for 40% of the total calories they need every day. The staple food should be about 150-200 grams according to the proportion of the three meals. You can choose between rice and flour products (steamed buns, noodles, flatbreads, cornmeal cakes, etc.). Non-staple food is about 240 to 360 grams to meet the body's needs for inorganic salts and vitamins. There is a wide range of non-staple food options, such as: meat, eggs, milk, poultry, soy products, seafood, vegetables, etc. Choose several types according to the principles of scientific meal preparation and eat them with each other. Generally, it is advisable to choose 50 to 100 grams of meat, poultry and eggs, 50 grams of soy products, and 200 to 250 grams of vegetables. That is to say, eat some stir-fries that can withstand hunger and produce high calories to keep blood sugar in the body at a high level. , thus ensuring work and study in the afternoon. However, having a full meal at noon does not mean overeating. Generally, eating until you are eight or nine times full is enough. If you are a white-collar working group with less labor, you can choose some simple blanched stem vegetables, a little white tofu, and some seafood as a lunch pairing.
Dinner - Eat less close to bedtime: Dinner is closer to bedtime, so it is not advisable to eat too full, especially late night snacks. For dinner, choose foods rich in fiber and carbohydrates. But for ordinary families, dinner is the only meal among the three meals that the whole family gets together and enjoys. Therefore, for most families, everyone cooks a very rich meal. This approach is somewhat contrary to the concept of health, so The adjustment is still the same as lunch: vegetable juice or fruit should be served half an hour before the meal.
There should still be more than one lettuce salad plate with a variety of sprouts at dinner. Bean sprouts can be wrapped in seaweed rolls to make some changes when eating. The amount of staple food and non-staple food can be reduced appropriately so that you are in an empty stomach when you go to bed.
Generally speaking, most people have poor blood circulation at night, so you can choose some natural hot foods to make up for this phenomenon, such as chili, curry, cinnamon, etc. Cold vegetables such as cucumbers, melons, winter melons, etc. should be used less in the evening. Try to finish dinner before eight o'clock in the evening. Any food after eight o'clock is bad food for us. If you are a family that eats a lot, it is best to have only one kind of meat for dinner. Do not eat a variety of meats, which will increase the burden on the body. Do not eat any sweets after dinner, as this can easily damage the liver.
Experts say that three meals a day is unscientific and one should be eaten every three hours
“The most fashionable healthy eating habit is to pay attention to the time of each meal, rather than the time of each meal as before. That way you only care about what’s on your plate,” said nutrition experts at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Some nutrition experts previously believed that before 16:00 to 19:00 is the best time for us to eat our main foods every day. However, through research, Philip, an expert from the British Dietetic Association, proved that this view is not correct, because the human body suffers from hunger for too long during the period before 16 o'clock, which is not good for human health.
In life, we eat three meals a day, but this lifestyle is unscientific. Others say that it is necessary to eat a main meal every three hours a day, which is also wrong. So what kind of eating time is scientific? Nutrition experts from the University of Cambridge in the UK have formulated a scientific meal time based on the laws of human metabolism.
Breakfast: 7 o'clock to 8 o'clock
Generally we have a misunderstanding. We wake up, wash and tidy up, no matter what time it is, and eat breakfast step by step.
Nutrition expert: After doing a moderate amount of morning exercise (such as running or practicing yoga), 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. is the best time to have breakfast.
Snack: 10 o'clock
By this time, brain work has consumed 20% of the energy provided by the food you eat for breakfast. Therefore, you need to add some low-fat carbohydrates at this time. , such as banana.
Lunch: 13:00
This time is the lowest point of energy remaining in the human body, so you must eat in time and choose high-calorie foods.
Snack meal: 14:00 to 15:00
At this time, the amount of glucose in the human body drops to the lowest point after lunch. So you can eat nuts, popcorn, dried and fresh fruits, etc.
Dinner: 17:00 to 19:00
At this time, you have to have a formal dinner to allow your body to obtain sufficient energy for the next few hours of sleep. In addition, this Eating during this time period also allows food to be fully digested before going to bed.
Snack: 19:00 to 21:00
Choose a small piece of cheese and banana, because they can help you improve the quality of sleep.