What time should there be between meals? Meal interval in separate meals

For many people, their diet is regulated by appetite. What is appetite and how to treat it?

Hunger

Everyone is familiar with the feeling of hunger, which signals that the human body needs proper functioning it is important to receive a new portion of food that carries energy, plastic substances, vitamins and minerals. The physiological and biochemical essence of this feeling is as follows. It is assumed that in the cerebral cortex there is a so-called food center, which is excited by various impulses: a decrease in the concentration of glucose (sugar) in the blood, emptying of the stomach, etc. Excitation of the food center creates appetite, the degree of which depends on the degree of excitation of the food center. However, as a result of the inertia of excitation of the food center, appetite persists for some time after eating. This is due to the fact that digestion and absorption of the first portions of food lasts 15–20 minutes. After they begin to enter the blood, the food center gives a “lights out”.

The feeling of hunger is characteristic not only of man, but of everything living on earth; there is no doubt that man inherited it from his wild ancestors. Since the latter could not always count on luck in finding food, certain advantages in the struggle for existence were received by those of them who, having found food, consumed it in large quantities, i.e. those who had increased appetite. Increased appetite apparently arose during the evolution of the animal world, became established in the offspring and was inherited by humans.

Currently, in developed (we repeat - in developed) countries, the problem of human nutrition has lost its former severity, and in connection with this, increased appetite has also lost its biological meaning. Moreover, he has become a kind of enemy of man, the culprit of systematic or unsystematic cases of overeating and even gluttony. And this means that you should not be guided by appetite alone, although you cannot ignore it either. Indeed, our appetite signals us not only about the need for required quantity food (he signals this incorrectly), but also about its quality.

We all know the feeling when after long absence When eating a product, a strong desire to eat it suddenly appears. This fact is explained in to a certain extent and the fact that this particular product contains a significant amount of one or another essential component, which is lacking in other products, as a result of which our body begins to feel the need for this product. IN in this case appetite gives exactly the right signal, and we, of course, must follow it.

Appetite

The question often arises: how to suppress appetite? Shown, that fractional meals(5-6 times a day) suppresses the excitation of the food center. In this case, sometimes one apple or a glass of kefir is enough. In order not to whet your appetite, you should not eat spicy or salty foods and you should completely avoid alcoholic beverages. Alcohol not only poisons the body, but also has a strong, appetite-stimulating effect.

So, increased appetite can be harmful to health, but its complete absence is also undesirable. This often affects young children, whom loving mothers and compassionate grandmothers endlessly stuff with something “tasty.” As a result, the child loses his appetite, and frightened parents, instead of coming to their senses, try to feed him continuously.

Eating with appetite is always a pleasure. It takes time for appetite to develop. Eating breaks are absolutely necessary. IN childhood they should be shorter than in a mature one.

What should these breaks be? How much and what should you eat during a particular meal? In other words, what should an adult’s diet be like? healthy person.

The diet is based on four basic principles.

Regularity of nutrition

The first principle of proper nutrition is regularity of nutrition, i.e. eating at the same time of day. Each meal is accompanied by a certain reaction of the body. Saliva, gastric juice, bile, pancreatic juice, etc. are secreted, and all this occurs right time. In the process of digestion, conditioned reflex reactions play an important role, such as the secretion of saliva and gastric juice in response to the smell and sight of food, etc. In the chain of conditioned reflex reactions important belongs to the time factor, i.e., a person’s developed habit of consuming food at a certain time of day. The development of a permanent stereotype in the diet has great importance for conditioned reflex preparation of the body for receiving and digesting food.

Divided meals during the day

The second principle of proper nutrition is fractional nutrition during the day. One or two meals a day are impractical and dangerous to health. Studies have shown that with two meals a day, myocardial infarction and acute pancreatitis occur much more often than with three and four meals a day, and this is explained precisely by the abundance of food consumed at one time with two meals a day (and even more so with one meal).

A practically healthy person is recommended to have three or four meals a day, namely: breakfast, lunch, dinner and a glass of kefir before bed. When conditions permit, you can introduce one or two additional meals into your diet: between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. Naturally, additional meals do not imply an increase in total number consumed food products per day.

Rational range of products

Physiological distribution of food quantity according to its intake. What should be the breaks between meals?

The fourth principle of proper nutrition It is the most physiological distribution of food quantity according to its intake during the day. Numerous observations confirm that the most beneficial regimen for a person is one in which he receives more than two-thirds of the total calories at breakfast and lunch. daily ration, and at dinner - less than one third.

The time of day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, naturally, can vary within fairly wide limits depending on a person’s production activity. However, it is important that the time between breakfast and lunch was 5–6 hours And the time between lunch and dinner was also 5–6 hours. Based on the research, it should be recommended that 3-4 hours pass between dinner and the start of bed.

Correct mode nutrition is especially important for normally developing child's body. It is recommended to feed newborn babies with a 3-3.5 hour break between meals.

Changes in diet

Diet should not be viewed as a dogma. Changing life conditions can make their own adjustments to it. Moreover, some dietary changes need to be made from time to time specifically for the purpose of a specific workout digestive system . In this case, as with other processes of enhancing adaptation capabilities, it is necessary to remember that changes in the diet should not be too sudden, i.e. they can represent physiologically permissible fluctuations without being gross violations of the diet.

However, violations are very often observed, and sometimes serious ones.

Dietary disorders

Most frequent violation is the following nature of nutrition during the day: a very weak breakfast (or almost no breakfast - only a glass of tea or coffee) in the morning before leaving for work; inadequate lunch at work, sometimes in the form of sandwiches; a very hearty dinner at home after coming home from work. Such actually two meals a day can, due to its systematic nature, cause significant harm to health. Firstly, eating a lot of food in the evening significantly increases the possibility (in other words, it is a so-called risk factor) of myocardial infarction, gastritis, peptic ulcer, acute pancreatitis. The more food eaten, the stronger and more long term the concentration of lipids (fats) in human blood increases, and this, in turn, as evidenced by numerous studies, is in a certain connection with the occurrence of changes in the body that lead to the development of atherosclerosis. Too much food causes increased secretion digestive juices: gastric and pancreatic. In some cases, this can gradually lead to disruption of the stomach, most often expressed in the form of gastritis or gastric ulcer (or duodenum), or the pancreas, which is expressed mainly in the form of pancreatitis. IN scientific literature For example, the phenomenon of a significant increase in the number of cases of myocardial infarction and acute pancreatitis in people celebrating Maslenitsa is described.

In the evening, after a day of work, a person’s energy consumption is usually small. They decrease even more during night sleep. That's why generous reception Eating in the evening leads to the fact that a significant proportion of consumed carbohydrates, without undergoing complete oxidation, are converted into fats, which are stored as reserves in adipose tissue. Thus, eating disorders, expressed in shifting the main share of the diet to the evening hours, also contribute to the emergence and development of obesity.

A relatively common violation of the diet, especially among women, is the replacement of a full lunch with a meal (or even two or three meals with a short break between them) of confectionery or flour products. Many people make do with cakes, muffins or buns instead of lunch. This serious violation proper diet, since in this case the human body, instead of a rational set of nutrients it needs, receives mainly carbohydrates, some of which, in conditions when almost no other nutrients enter the body, are converted into fats, creating the preconditions for the development of obesity. Confectionery usually contain a large number of easily soluble and quickly digestible carbohydrates ( simple sugars), which, entering the blood in the form of glucose, significantly increase the concentration of the latter in the blood within a relatively short time. This is heavy load for the pancreas. Repeated stress on the pancreas can lead to its disruption endocrine function with subsequent emergence diabetes mellitus. All of the above discussions about rational nutrition relate to a practically healthy person. Nutrition for patients - special care nutritionists and therefore we do not touch on this issue.

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Fractional nutrition involves gradually losing fat reserves. At the same time, the loss of extra pounds occurs without disrupting the body’s functioning. Therefore, a person does not experience any discomfort, and the body does not lose nutrients. Due to these properties, fractional meals are considered the most humane way to lose weight. At fractional meals You can easily lose up to five kilograms in a month. However, with fractional meals you need to pay attention physical exercise and active recreation, they help enhance the weight loss effect. ABOUT fast weight loss you can read in this publication.

The transition to fractional meals is not painless for all people. In order not to experience discomfort, you need to follow some rules when switching to fractional meals:

1. You need to start by creating a menu. IN daily diet need to include a variety of foods.
2. You also need to gradually reduce food portions. First you need to eat half of your usual portion of food. When the body gets used to it Food portions should be reduced to the size of a glass. This is the amount of food that provides the body with everything it needs. useful substances and is not put aside in reserve.
3. Next, you need to change your diet. During the day you can eat up to eight times, but not less than four.
4. You can not change your usual diet for several days. You can include in the menu familiar dishes and drinks. You can read more about the weight loss menu by following this link.

The main thing about fractional meals

Switching to fractional meals helps normalize the digestion process, improve metabolic processes and improve your figure and health. When eating fractional meals for weight loss, you need to follow the basic rules:

1. The interval between meals should not exceed four hours. Optimal interval time between meals is 2–3 hours.
2. During the day you need to eat up to six times. An ideal diet should consist of three techniques food and a few snacks. You need to consume food even if you have no appetite. After all, refusing one meal leads to overeating the next.
3. Food portions should fit in the palm of your hand. You need to consume food until you feel full. When the body is full, under no circumstances should you continue to consume foods. Be sure to read our article “Rules of a balanced diet for weight loss.”
4. You can eat a wide variety of foods throughout the day. You can even enjoy something tasty. However high-calorie foods should be consumed in the first half of the day. It is also worth making sure that the total amount of calories is 1200–1600 kilocalories.
5. The most high-calorie foods should be reserved for breakfast. which are rich in carbohydrates.
6. For lunch and dinner, you should give preference to hot dishes. They help normalize the digestion process.
7. For snacks, you should give preference to fruits and vegetables, as well as dairy products and sugar-free muesli.
8. To speed up the process of losing weight, you only need to choose lower-calorie foods and exclude high-calorie foods.
9. It is also worth using a calorie table to control the number of calories consumed. The table will help you control the ratio of high-calorie and low calorie foods. Read our special article “rules of proper nutrition for weight loss.”
10. Water plays an important role in fractional nutrition. You need to drink it often, half an hour before meals.

Small meals are the perfect way to lose weight excess weight without significant effort and unpleasant consequences. This nutritional system improves the functioning of all organs and helps normalize metabolism. People who switched to fractional meals have forgotten what excess weight is.

Rules for fractional meals

For those who want to lose weight, fractional meals are attractive, first of all, because they do not impose the traditional prohibitions of strict diets. In addition, such a nutrition system does not require special preparation...

The main feature of fractional nutrition is that food must be taken not according to the usual pattern - breakfast, lunch, dinner - but much more often and in small portions. This way, the time between meals is not long enough to allow you to get very hungry, and when you don’t severe hunger, there is no “brutal” appetite that forces us to overeat or lean on denser and high-calorie foods. As a result, on fractional meals a person involuntarily begins to consume fewer calories, and, consequently, loses weight. In this article, we will introduce you to the basic rules of fractional nutrition, which will help you transition to a new “gastronomic” regime without harming your stomach and mood. So…

1. You need to eat 5-6 times a day. At the same time, food portions should be small. It has been proven that if you constantly feed the body, you can “indoctrinate” the regulatory system fat metabolism that there is always food, and the body will stop making strategic reserves. Assimilation nutrients accelerates, and much less is deposited on the waist.

2. Interval between meals. The largest should not exceed 4 hours. The minimum interval must be at least 2.5 hours. If the feeling of hunger appears before the prescribed interval of 2.5 hours, it means previous appointment the food was not nutritious enough - in this case it is necessary to reconsider its quantity and energy value.

3.Eat at the same time. This will help the body digest food as efficiently as possible.

4. Properly distribute daily calories. If you eat six times a day, 25% of calories should be for breakfast and dinner, 35% for lunch, 5% for 3 snacks. If there are five meals a day - every time daily calorie content should be 20%.

5. Drink water. With fractional meals, you need to consume at least 1.5-2 liters of water per day.

6. Do not mix water with food. Water should be drunk either before or after meals. The interval between eating and drinking should be from half an hour to an hour.

7.Preference must be given healthy food: whole grain bread, dairy products, cereals, fruits, vegetables, fresh meat and fish. Avoid processed foods and sausages.

8. Volume of food. Energy value The diet should remain at the level of daily requirements. The serving should not exceed the size of a palm or the volume of a glass.

9. Hot breakfast. It's better to start the day with it. Also don't forget about hot food for lunch and dinner. Between hot meals you can have a snack 2-3 times. What is important: morning meals should contain maximum amount carbohydrates from daily value. And during the day and evening you should try to eat foods containing proteins and fiber.

10. Snacks. Ideal foods for snacking: grain bread or crispbread, vegetable and fruit salads, just snacking vegetables and fruits, low-fat cottage cheese, natural sugar-free yogurt, sugar-free cereals and muesli. Chips, chocolates, seeds, and nuts are not suitable for snacking - they contain too much fat.

Proper nutrition. Menu for the week:

Proper nutrition is a system that allows you not only to lose excess weight without hours of training in the gym and strict food restrictions, but also helps improve your health. The functioning of all organs and systems of the body improves if a person eats healthy products according to a certain regime. And here it is important to maintain proper nutrition by the hour and the correct ratio of essential nutrients.

Very often, wanting to lose weight, people try to strengthen physical exercise and significantly reduce the number of meals and portion sizes. But such actions can lead not only to the loss of extra pounds, but also to disrupt metabolism, worsen digestion, cause the appearance of cellulite and other problems that in no way brighten up even a noticeably thinner figure.

As a result of the lack of vitamins and minerals supplied with food, the body tries to live in economy mode, all processes in it slow down, and some even stop altogether. As a result, weight loss stops or progresses at a very slow pace. A proper diet and rational distribution of foods throughout the day can solve this problem. Experts recommend eating 5 times a day:

• breakfast (8:00-9:00);
• second breakfast (10:00-11:00);
• lunch (12:00-14:00);
• afternoon tea (16:00-17:00);
• dinner (18:00-20:00).

It is worth remembering that this diet for weight loss by the hour and the given meal times are only approximate. Each person lives according to his own biorhythms, has individual characteristics(age, gender, occupation and others) and diseases. All this must be taken into account when choosing a diet and meal times. For example, there is a rule that for a good figure you cannot eat after 6 pm. But experts recommend adhering to another rule: the last meal should be no later than 3-4 hours before bedtime. Therefore, dinner and snack times may shift slightly.

Important! Mode proper nutrition and well-chosen products give positive effect to improve your health and lose weight only if you make these rules your lifestyle.

Correct ratio of dietary components

Eating with appetite brings joy and pleasure. Proper nutrition will help you enjoy delicious dishes and become slimmer. Experts call the main principles of such a system 4:

• fragmentation during the day;
• regularity and clear eating schedule;
• rational selection of products;
• the correct ratio of components throughout the day.

Breakfast should be rich in proteins - important building blocks for all body systems. It should also contain complex carbohydrates, which give a boost of vivacity and energy for the whole day. Thus, nutritionists recommend eating porridge, eggs, cottage cheese and other dairy products, fruits, and whole grain breads for breakfast.

It is advisable to make the second breakfast light, but rich in nutrients. Fresh seasonal fruits and fruit salads, a glass of freshly squeezed juice or kefir, and yogurt will do this role perfectly. Some people involved mental labor, prefer to carry a handful of nuts in their bag for second breakfast, which also helps to have a snack.

For lunch, experts recommend eating protein, complex carbohydrates and some fat. So, lean meat or fish, salads with olive or other vegetable oil, grains and legumes. The afternoon snack can be made the same as the second breakfast, for example, eating fruit or yogurt.

Dinner is the most important meal of the day, since overeating at this time can quickly affect your figure in the form of extra pounds. Here it’s better to eat something light, but something that will fill you up for the whole evening and won’t make you walk in circles near the refrigerator, feeling a strong desire to eat something harmful. Will fit low-fat varieties meat, vegetable dishes, salads.

Important! It must be remembered that in addition to diet, food combinations play a huge role in food. At first you will have to look at specially designed tables, but after a few days you will remember what goes well with each other, and which products are best diluted with different techniques food.

Advantages and disadvantages of eating by the hour

Proper nutrition has its pros and cons. Among the main advantages of this system:

• the presence of the most different products in the diet - you can even eat some sweets without harm to your figure;
• opportunity regular use at any age and with any disease;
• long-term effect of weight loss and overall health;
• digestion, blood sugar levels, endocrine, immune, cardiovascular and genitourinary system, metabolism and removal of toxins are accelerated;
• guaranteed result.

And among the disadvantages is the need to adhere to a certain time for eating with proper nutrition, planning in advance and preparing dishes only from healthy and natural products, mandatory presence of breakfast.

As you can see, eating according to a schedule during the day is very useful system for all. If you decide to follow this diet for weight loss, you will soon notice that overweight disappear quickly and almost unnoticed. Especially if you include sports and other physical activities. It is important not to skip a single meal during the day. Don't be afraid, sticking to the regime is not difficult. You quickly get used to the clockwise feeding system. And when one person in the family begins to use it for weight loss or health improvement, other members of the household often soon join him.

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Many generally suggest switching to two meals a day, citing the fact that this is inherent in nature. Some, referring to the doctrine of calorie content, believe: “What’s wrong if I eat enough twice, I daily requirement I won’t exceed it in calories, I’ll just divide it into two doses.”

A balanced diet(correct) involves 5-6 small meals a day - main meals (lunch,) and snacks between them, this is the only way to run ours at full capacity.

What intervals are acceptable between meals?

Regular eating leads to the formation of a conditioned reflex, when at a certain time the desire to eat appears.
In our body, each organ is busy with its own work. At certain intervals, bile is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. It is produced in order to digest the food we eat. If we eat too much long breaks or irregularly, this is fraught with serious problems for our health.
From a physiological point of view, it would be ideal to start the next meal only when the digestion of the food eaten at the previous meal has finished, but since the body does not give us such a signal, the most optimal intervals would be from 3 to 3.5 hours. Such intervals provide normal work digestive system.
And it is absolutely not permissible to take a break for more than 4.5-5 hours, otherwise the body will think that it is being put on a “starvation ration” and will begin to stockpile. That's why we gain weight by eating a couple of times a day.

Another important point is that the body spends energy to digest food. If the break in eating is very long, then the body can only burn fat and muscle, and the muscles burn faster, but the fat remains.

So, if the breaks between meals are too long, then this can lead to the following consequences:

1. Overstimulation of the food center and the desire to eat at least something to satisfy hunger.
2. Accumulation of gastric juice in the stomach, which irritates the mucous membrane and can lead to inflammatory processes.
3. Overeating.
4. Slow down metabolism.
5. Accumulation of fat and burning of muscles.
6. Depression, irritability and mood swings

Therefore, if you want to lose weight, it is very important not to allow too long intervals between meals.

It is not always possible to have a snack if you are away from home or office, so always carry some food with you that will replace a snack or even lunch. The Herbalife company has products suitable for this - and.

Dietary supplement Not a medicine.

It also happens that you eat right, but are haunted by hunger between meals. This may be due to a shortage. Drink your normal amount of water (30 ml per 1 kg of body weight) and everything will be fine.
Too short intervals are also not welcome. On average, digesting food takes about 2.5 hours, and if you eat more often, this can lead to upset digestive processes.

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