The Basics of Meal Timing and Eating Habits

The Basics of Meal Timing and Eating Habits

meal-timing-and-frequency

Meal habits and timings have been changed a lot nowadays as compared to the past. Most adults eat about 4 to 8 times a day without taking two or three proper meals. Much of our daily calories come from untimely snacks, rather than meals. This is changing the bodies of the population.

According to research, before the 1980s, adults consume 82-85% of calories from meals and the remaining calories from snacks. Nowadays, meals only make up 70-75% of our daily calories, and the remaining come from snacks. Less than 1% of adults eat or drink from 1 am to 6 am.

Based on research, the ideal timing for meals is as follows:

  • Eat a high protein and calorie-dense breakfast. The ideal time is 7 am and within 30 minutes after you wake up.
  • Eat high-calorie lunch after four hours of breakfast. The ideal time is 1 pm and should not delay 4 pm.
  • Dinner should one half as compared to lunch and ideally at 7 pm. Eat dinner before 3 hours of sleep.
  • Take snacks based on natural foods in between meals.

What Do I Need to Know About Meal Timing?

Meal timings are almost as significant to health as the meal ingredients or components. You should follow proper meal timings and also consider different approaches to have better health.

Let’s discuss some scientifically proven habits and tactics of eating:

  • Take meals and snacks alternatively at specific times throughout the day to manage calories demand and hunger. The best way is to take 3 meals and 2 snacks per day.
  • Take meals and snacks during a 12-hour time period in a day. The ideal 12-hour time period is 6 am to 6 pm.
  • Take a greater number of calories during the daytime meals that include breakfast, morning snacks, and lunch. Evening snacks and dinner should have fewer calories.
  • Eat natural foods and snacks that are nutrient-dense rather than processed or packed foods that contain a considerable number of sugars and fats.
  • You can consider different approaches according to your goal, like gaining, or maintaining or losing weight. For example, intermittent fasting is a scientifically proven approach for obese, diabetics, and cardiac patients.

It helps to decrease the number of calories as well as better metabolic control. However, adding a high-calorie post-workout meal is best for people who want to gain weight.

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Medical Considerations When Scheduling Your Meals

The timing of meals significantly affects circadian rhythm and metabolic changes in our bodies. The most common disorders related to unhealthy meal timings are obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

Circadian Rhythm and Metabolism

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) located in our brain is the main control system of the circadian rhythm. SCN also communicates with neural and humoral pathways that send feedback signals back to hormone-sensitive areas of SCN.SCN also controls gene rhythms in the tissues. This whole circadian system control metabolic processes, energy generation, and energy usage.

In normal individuals, SCN drives the timing of feeding. Irregular meal timings cause separation of feedback connections between SCN and food availability. It results in changing the metabolic processes of tissues due to several changes in gene rhythms. When the endogenous circadian system is disrupted, its clinical signs are evident in the form of failure of the physiological metabolic processes.

It may result in irregular fat distribution, increased density of blood and narrowing of vessels due to fats, increased blood glucose, and a decrease in sensitivity of tissues to insulin. All these changes predispose to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Blood Sugar Considerations

The timing of meals affects your blood sugar levels. In diabetic patients and people who have an increased risk of diabetes, meals should be spaced 4 hours apart to stabilize glucose levels in the blood. But if you feel hungry, take a snack in-between meal. A single large meal can boost blood glucose suddenly that may result in severe consequences in diabetic patients. Glucose levels fall after 2-3 hours of a meal, no matter how much big a meal you take. A single large meal is also bad for healthy individuals because it may result in a lack of energy once the glucose levels fall in the blood.

Benefits of Eating Meals on Time

Maintain Proper Routine

Taking meals at regular times can help you maintain a better routine. You will feel more stress-free, acquire increased self-control, get a timely and sound sleep, and wake up on time for work.

Improves Digestion

Taking meals regularly gives enough time to your digestive tract to properly digest and absorb the meals and nutrients, respectively.

Reduce Fat Stores

Regular timing of meals helps to decrease fat stores in the body. When you take smaller 5 meals instead of 2-3 large meals, your body will use more fats present in the diet to provide energy, thus decreasing the fat stores.

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Should You Eat Right Before Bed?

Eating before bed is not a healthy practice due to its following effects:

  • Sleep disturbance depending on the type of food you eat
  • Acid reflux causing heartburn due to the horizontal position of the body during sleep
  • Decrease the rate of body metabolism that may cause slow digestion and weight gain
  • Stomach pain is also common in people having large meals before bed

What’s Next?

If you want to help clients with food, diet, weight management and improving the results of their fitness routines, the Fitness Nutrition Coach course is for you. You will learn about optimal nutrition, including proven techniques for increasing energy, optimal health and decreased dependence on medications. Instantly increase your job and career opportunities with this popular professional credential.

Become a Lifestyle Weight Management Specialist.  Help your clients achieve their weight loss or weight management goals using the latest proven strategies.

You can become a Certified Personal Fitness Chef and expand your current personal chef business, or add a new profit center for your fitness or wellness business. Many personal chefs cook and coach people in groups to help more people and earn more money per hour. Some chefs provide weekly meal prep service for health-minded customers and athletes.

Check out what it takes to start a career in personal fitness training. This is your most affordable and fastest way to become a highly qualified personal trainer.

NESTA coaching programs are open to anyone with a desire to learn and help others. There are no prerequisites.

That’s it for now.

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