Many people say that you should eat three meals a day, and many people do the same. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all guaranteed to be three meals a day. There are also many people who do not eat on time. Eating lunch together, or eating lunch and dinner together, as long as you can eat enough, it doesn't matter. This is not very good for the body, so when is the best time to eat? Let me introduce it to you below.
1. The best time to have three meals a day
(1) Breakfast at 7:00. In the early morning, the sun slowly rises and the body gradually wakes up. By around 7 a.m., the gastrointestinal tract has fully awakened and the digestive system has begun to function. Eating breakfast at this time is the most efficient way to digest and absorb food nutrients. A perfect breakfast should include at least three types of food: cereals, such as noodles, etc.; animal foods, such as meat, eggs, dairy products, etc.; and vegetables and fruits that are rich in vitamin C and can supplement dietary fiber. If you add one or two nuts, it will be even more perfect.
(2) Extra meal at 10:30. Around 10:30 in the morning, the body's metabolism speeds up, and most people tend to feel a little hungry. At this time, they need to eat a snack to replenish energy, especially students, office workers and other people who use their brains, which helps to concentrate and Maintain efficient study and work status. Snacks are eclectic, you can eat a cucumber or a tomato, half a cup of milk, a small bottle of yogurt, two or three pieces of dried tofu or a small handful of nuts. It is worth noting that after adding a meal, the amount of lunch should be reduced according to appetite.
(3) Lunch 12:30. After 12 noon is the time when the body's energy demand is greatest. The growling of your stomach is a reminder to eat lunch. For many people, although lunch time is relatively short, they still need to chew slowly and avoid eating while working. It is best to follow three matching principles for a perfect lunch: first, the combination of thick and thin, eat some millet, whole wheat, oats, etc., which can help prevent constipation; second, the combination of dry and thin, in addition to dry food, it is best to drink some moist soup and porridge The third is color matching. It is best to eat five colors, such as white rice noodles, red tomatoes, meat, green vegetables, yellow soybeans and carrots, black black rice, black beans, black sesame, etc.
(4) Afternoon tea 15:30. There is a long interval between lunch and dinner. By around 16:00 in the afternoon, the glucose content in the body has dropped. Having some afternoon tea in advance can prevent your thinking from slowing down and prevent irritability, anxiety and other negative emotions. Afternoon tea should be paired like a meal. It is best to choose 2 to 3 kinds of foods that have complementary functions and can ensure balanced nutrition. For example, a kind of cereal food (biscuits, rusks), paired with a kind of dairy product, or a seasonal fruit, and boiled water and tea are suitable drinks.
(5) Dinner 18:30. It is best to arrange dinner between 18:00 and 19:00. If you eat too late, you will have to go to bed soon. Going to bed before digesting food not only results in poor sleep quality, but also increases the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, easily induces obesity, and leads to various chronic diseases. You should eat a light meal for dinner, not fat or sweet. You should eat lean meats and eggs with short muscle fibers that are easy to digest, and less fat meat. You should also ensure a variety of food for dinner, eat more vegetables and whole grains, which will help In order to absorb more dietary fiber and increase gastrointestinal motility, it is also important to control food intake. Proper exercise half an hour after meals can avoid fat accumulation.
(6) Late night snack at 21:00. Diabetic patients and people who have to do mental work at night can eat some late-night snacks appropriately, but they must choose food carefully and control the amount of food, otherwise the harm will outweigh the good. In addition to the digestive system, the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases will also be damaged. The time for eating late-night snacks should be arranged two hours before going to bed, around 21 o'clock is more suitable. The amount of food eaten at night should be small, and try not to exceed half of the main meal. In terms of food selection, low-fat, easy-to-digest foods are appropriate, and easily-digestible bread slices and light porridge are better.
2. The dangers of not eating on time
(1) Leading to obesity. Being hungry for a long time makes people very hungry for food. When they get home, they often eat whatever they catch, and they prefer to eat junk food that is ready to eat out of the bag. After finishing their dinner exhausted, many people often simply wash up and lie down in bed to rest.
As everyone knows, the sugar and fat content in the blood increases after meals. Coupled with the lack of exercise, excess calories are converted into fat, which can easily lead to weight gain.
(2) Increase the chance of stroke. The later you eat dinner, the higher your risk of stroke. On the contrary, people who eat earlier and ensure that there is more than 60 to 70 minutes between meal time and bedtime can reduce the chance of stroke by 66%.
(3) High risk of gastric cancer. The study found that 38.4% of people eat too late or at irregular times. Researchers believe that the life span of gastric mucosal epithelial cells is very short, and they need to be renewed about every 2 to 3 days. The renewal process is usually carried out at night when the gastrointestinal tract is resting. If you eat dinner too late, the gastrointestinal tract will not get a rest, and the gastrointestinal tract will not be able to rest. The mucosa cannot be repaired in time, which may increase the risk of gastric cancer over time. If you often eat fried, barbecued and other foods, the risk is higher.
(4) Affects sleep. The gastrointestinal tract is forced to "work overtime", which directly affects sleep, leading to problems such as difficulty falling asleep or having many dreams, light sleep or even insomnia. Over time, it makes people listless, and even leads to memory loss, neurasthenia, etc.
(5) High incidence of stone disease. 4 to 5 hours after a meal is the peak period for calcium excretion by the human body. If dinner is eaten too late, people will have fallen asleep when the peak calcium excretion arrives, and urine cannot be excreted in time. A large amount of calcium will be deposited in the urine, which may form over time. Kidney, ureter, bladder and urethra stones.
(6) Emotional loss of control. Hunger can easily make people lose control of their emotions, lose patience, become irritable when encountering problems, and make people uncontrollably want to quarrel or reprimand others. Surveys show that the phenomenon of "road rage" is closely related to hunger and hypoglycemia caused by eating too late.