Many people ask the question ‘how often should I eat?’. Giving an answer to this question is difficult, because there are a number of factors that need to be considered carefully. Eating primarily provide energy to the body and in this regard, how often you eat may be closely related to how much energy you require. Athletes for example, are known to consume more energy than sedentary individuals, and in some cases athletes in hard physical training regimens can require large increases in energy. Eating this amount of energy in the traditional three meals a day can be difficult, and can lead to gastrointestinal discomfort. As a result athletes have learnt to consume the extra energy in additional meals, the total number of meals usually varying somewhere between from 4 to 7 per day. Those who require less energy can usually fit the required energy into a smaller number of meal, and the traditional eating plan of three meals a day can suffice. However, even sedentary individuals usually consume snacks of some kind between meals.
Breakfast is named after the role it plays in breaking the overnight fast. Those who consume breakfast have been shown to have lower body weights than those who skip breakfast. In addition, breakfast consumers also tend to consume high quality diets because they are less likely to snack on low quality foods. Eating breakfast therefore makes sense for those who wish to improve their health and physical appearance.
But why are three meals a day the traditional regimen for most? This likely historically relates to eating around work. Breakfast can be consumed before work starts, lunch during a break midway through the working day and supper, dinner or tea (depending on where you live geographically), following work. However, this was based on clear 9 to 5 style working day, and many people work distinct shift patterns that do not conform to this model. For these individuals, eating may therefore required changes to this pattern. It is therefore difficult to make any recommendations regarding the number of meal that should be consumed per day. However, the nutritional literature is clear that those that consume breakfast upon waking, tend to have lower body weights and are less likely to snack on unhealthy foods compared to those who skip breakfast. Therefore, however many meals you consume a day, breakfast should be included. Breaking the fast not only provides energy for the day, but also may increase the quality of the diet as a whole.
Eat Well, Stay Healthy, Protect Yourself
RdB
