Must be between meals. Sample healthy nutrition menu. Advice from a nutritionist, consultation with a gastroenterologist on the optimal time intervals between meals

Now about the intervals between meals. Ideal from a physiological point of view, it would be to start the next meal only when the digestion of the food eaten at the previous meal has finished. To this we must add that the digestive organs, like every other organ of the human body, need periods of rest. And finally, digestion has a certain impact on all processes occurring in the body, including the activity of the central nervous system. The combination of these conditions leads to the fact that a person accustomed to a measured diet develops a normal appetite at the right time.

One of the indicators of the duration of the act of digestion is the time it takes for food to be removed from the stomach. It has been established that with normal functioning of the stomach and other digestive organs, the process of digesting food lasts about 4 hours. Each meal leads to a more or less pronounced change in the state of the central nervous system. After eating, especially a large one, some apathy sets in, attention decreases, the will relaxes, the person tends to sleep, that is, in the language of a physiologist, conditioned reflex activity decreases. This state of the central nervous system, which occurs immediately after eating, lasts, depending on the abundance of food taken, for an hour or more. Then all these sensations smooth out, and finally, by the end of the fourth hour, the food center returns to its normal state - appetite appears again. And if a person who is accustomed to the regime does not eat in a timely manner, he becomes weak, his attention decreases, and his performance decreases. Moreover, in the future, appetite may disappear. If you are systematically late with food or eat on a full stomach, the normal activity of the digestive glands is disrupted and digestion is upset. A longer period between meals occurs during night sleep, but it should not exceed 10-11 hours. The general rule is the following: the intervals between small meals can be short (2-3 hours), but eating earlier than 2 hours after the previous meal is not advisable. On average, breaks between meals should be 4-5 hours. food diet food menu

The distribution of the daily diet, that is, the preparation of a menu, is of great importance. This combines issues of food quantity, its quality composition and consistency in taking individual dishes.

The total amount of food consumed by a person per day, together with liquid dishes and drinks, is on average about 3 kilograms. Breakfast is the first meal after sleep. During the night's sleep, everything eaten the day before was digested, all organs of the body, including the digestive ones, rested and favorable conditions were created for their further work. Scientists involved in nutrition issues are unanimous that it is necessary to have breakfast, regardless of whether a person is engaged in physical or mental activity. We can only talk about what part of the diet should contain breakfast. It is believed that if a person is engaged in physical labor, then breakfast should contain approximately 1/3 of the daily ration, both in volume and nutritional value. If a person who does manual labor eats a breakfast that is insignificant in volume and nutritional value, or even worse, starts work on an empty stomach, then he cannot work at full load, and his performance drops significantly. It has now become fashionable, especially among knowledge workers, to limit themselves to a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast. They refer to lack of time and appetite. Both are the result of an incorrect lifestyle, general regimen, including diet. Putting things in order in your diet (as, indeed, in your entire lifestyle) is entirely within the power of a person, and anyone who wants to can overcome the bad habit of eating poorly, and by the way, give up bad habits such as alcohol abuse and smoking .

One of the questions that interests us about separate meals is the interval between meals. To determine the time when to eat, a person must focus on the feeling of hunger. The natural call of the body must become a criterion when building a rational diet.

Physiology: hunger and satiety

The physiology of the human body clearly provides an answer to when feelings of satiety or hunger occur. In the digestion of food, there is consistency in the actions of all parts of the gastrointestinal tract. This coherence in the functioning of the digestive tract is ensured by uninterrupted control of the food center. The absorption of food begins in the mouth. Food irritates the receptors of the tongue and palate, which transmit stimulation to the brain, namely to the food center. From it, nerve impulses spread to all other organs of the digestive tract.

The feeling of satiety is determined by separate meals - the time of digestion of foods. While food is being digested in the body, the blood is supplied with nutrients. The food center will be inhibited until a certain concentration of substances necessary for normal existence is maintained in the blood. At this time, the person will experience a feeling of satiety.

Over time, cells consume nutrition from the blood and it becomes depleted. The inhibition of the food center is removed and it resumes work. The man is hungry. The stomach begins to produce juice necessary for the rapid absorption of food. And the person understands that he needs to eat. And the food will enter the prepared stomach and immediately begin to be absorbed.

The feeling of hunger directly depends on the temperature of the body. This is because the food center is sensitive to blood temperature. If a person is cold, his blood cools down and his food center works more actively. During heat or fever, the blood also heats up, which means that the food center will not provide a stimulus for hunger.

In addition, the amount of food eaten also affects the feeling of fullness. Its receptors determine the degree of filling of the organ with food and transmit impulses to the central nervous system. In order for the food center to get involved, it needs to be stimulated by conditioned reflex actions. Namely:

• visually, that is, decorate the dish and table beautifully and brightly;
• olfactory, food must emit pleasant aromas;
• tactilely, food should cause a pleasant sensation in the mouth.

Meal interval in separate meals

When adhering to separate meals, the interval between meals should be:

• minimum 3.5-4 hours
• water can be consumed within 20 minutes. before meals or 1.5-2 hours after meals;
• tea, coffee, juices and drinks should be consumed 1 hour before meals;
• fruits can be consumed either 40 minutes before the main meal or 2 hours after it;
• milk, melons and desserts are a separate meal;

Separate nutrition and time of digestion of food in the stomach

In order to know the amount of food that should be consumed at one time, you need to take into account that the stomach produces approximately 2 liters of gastric juice per day. If we talk about separate nutrition and the time of digestion of food in the stomach, then it becomes clear why the digestive organs cannot cope with mixed food.

If you divide all the food eaten four times, it turns out that approximately 0.5 liters of juice immediately digests the entire contents of the stomach. If only meat enters the stomach, then the gastric juice only processes it. If there are other products in the stomach with meat, for example, bread or potatoes, the gastric juice will primarily absorb carbohydrates, and some of the meat will remain undigested. And this part of the meat will enter the small intestine in the form of a food bolus that will not be digested. From this it follows that for the normal functioning of the stomach and intestines, food from proteins and carbohydrates must be consumed separately.

Eating should only be done when you feel hungry

When eating rationally, you need to separate hunger and appetite. Hunger signals the need to replenish the body's energy. Appetite brings satisfaction. Proper nutrition is driven by hunger; incorrect nutrition is driven by appetite. In the second case, there is a violation of the measure when eating food, since appetite can be deceptive. Inappropriate eating behavior occurs, which leads to excess weight.

To overcome the feeling of hunger that arises in a situation where you cannot eat, there is a simple technique. It consists of tightly tightening your abdominal muscles and slowly counting to 10, then relaxing.

The concept of diet is quite broad and includes the following components:

1. Number of meals or frequency of meals.
2. Meal times and intervals between them.
3. Distribution of the diet according to energy value (calorie content), chemical composition, weight and food set for individual meals.
4. A person's behavior or behavior while eating.

Number of meals and intervals between them

Due to failures in hunting, the most ancient people ate approximately three to four times a week.

The ancient Greeks, like the ancient Romans, adhered to two meals a day.

As time passed, the number of meals increased. Breakfast first appeared among noble ladies who took chocolate in bed.

The food practice of holiday homes, sanatoriums, and pioneer camps is four meals a day.

Different nutrition systems and programs may offer two, three, or four meals a day.

A little about healthy eating

In this case, we will look at rational nutrition, which is based on the principles of balance and calorie theory.

The word “rational” translated from Latin means science, reason, and there are also meanings such as accounting, counting, counting. Rational nutrition is a scientifically based, precisely calculated supply of food to a person, strengthening the body’s resistance to the effects of toxic substances and infections.

The principles on which rational nutrition is based:

1. Timely entry into the human body of substances that are needed to compensate for human energy costs. To control energy replenishment, knowledge of the level of energy expenditure and the energy value of the diet is necessary.
2. High-quality completeness of products when the body receives the main food ingredients in sufficient quantities -, and.
3. The optimal ratio of the basic nutrients listed above.

Four meals a day for a healthy person is considered the most rational.

Correct diet: number of meals

Power multiplicity or the number of meals affects the body's metabolism. Factors to consider when determining the frequency of meals:

• age;
• labor activity (mental, physical labor);
• state of the human body;
• working day routine.

Benefits of multiple meals (four meals a day):

Disadvantages of two meals a day with a large interval between meals (up to 7 hours or more)

Rare meals cause an increase in blood levels, promote the accumulation of fatty deposits in the body, and reduce the active functioning of the thyroid gland and tissue enzymes.

In most cases, a person immediately eats a large amount of food, as a result, the stomach becomes full, stretches its walls, limits mobility, and, therefore, impairs the mixing of the contents and its processing by juices; the process of evacuation of food from the stomach is slow.

Stretching the organ can adversely affect the functioning of the heart. An overfilled stomach raises the diaphragm, complicating cardiac activity.

In the first hours of digestion, a large food load inhibits the functioning of the gastric glands, reduces the secretion of juice and lengthens the period of digestion. Chronic overeating leads to obesity.

In addition, eating a large amount of food can provoke a strong contraction of the muscles of the biliary tract and significant pain in this area.

In addition, due to the fact that an excess amount of blood fills the internal organs, the functional state of the brain blood becomes worse. Therefore, performance decreases, weakness and drowsiness appear.

Also, rare meals, when the breaks between them reach 8-10 hours, worsen the rhythmic activity of the intestines, leading to constipation.

Correct diet: intervals between meals

The duration of the intervals is determined by the period of time that is sufficient for the digestion, absorption and absorption of nutrients.

Long breaks in eating can provoke:

The intensity of the synthesis of digestive juices decreases significantly in the first hours after a meal, is restored by the 2nd hour, and reaches its maximum by the 4th hour. For this reason, eating earlier than two hours after the previous meal is not advisable.

During short intervals there is not enough time for the complete digestion process and absorption of nutrients before the next meal. This can cause a disorder in the motor and secretory functioning of the digestive canal.

In addition, the following factor is important. A healthy stomach is a muscular bag that can stretch and contract. However, it lacks the ability to grab food, turn it over and process juices unless it has a certain volume. Therefore, the statement “eat more often and little by little” in the absence of pathologies of the digestive tract is not true.

The most optimal intervals between meals for an adult healthy person the intervals are four to six hours. In addition, the digestive glands need rest for 6 to 10 hours per day, when the ability of the digestive organs to function normally the next day occurs.

Food temperature

In order for the digestion process to be carried out properly, the temperature of the food is important. The temperature of hot food should be no higher than 50 - 60 degrees, cold food - no lower than 10 degrees.

Regularity and eating disorders

Eating regularly at the same time is extremely important. A conditioned reflex of appetite stimulation to the time factor is formed. By a certain time, a feeling of hunger arises, which excites the food center and triggers the reflex secretion of gastric juice. A clear, organized, correct diet is most beneficial for digestion and absorption. In most cases, two to three days are a sufficient period for the body to adapt to the diet. In some situations, it is difficult to strictly follow the regime; some deviations from the usual eating hours are possible - optimal - within 30 minutes.

In case of violations diet the conditioned reflex begins to fade. Food enters the stomach, which is not prepared for digestion. This affects the food center - appetite decreases and food mass is poorly absorbed. Irregular and disorderly nutrition distorts the physiological rhythms of the digestive glands, reduces digestibility and in some cases provokes the development of diseases - gastritis, cholecystitis, etc.

If the choice is made in favor of one or another human diet, it is necessary to strictly adhere to it, since sudden changes in nutrition and food stress are not indifferent to the body.

Proper nutrition is the key to a healthy body for many years. It is important to eat not only healthy food, but also monitor its quality and quantity. Most people today live in a constant rush. Finding time for a full lunch or breakfast is becoming increasingly difficult.

Constant snacking on prepared foods, eating on the run and, as a result, evening overeating. All this is a direct path to gastrointestinal diseases such as gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.

To eat right, you need to follow a certain regime, thanks to which a person will always be energetic, cheerful and successful in his affairs. Diet usually refers to the number of meals, the specific time and intervals between them. Let's look at these points in more detail:

For proper functioning of the metabolism in the body, it is necessary to eat rationally. When determining the number of meals, age, daily routine, and health status are taken into account. Optimal for an adult is 4 meals a day. For people with gastrointestinal diseases, the amount increases to 5-6 times during the day. The same applies to children; they instinctively ask to eat often, but little by little.

Repeated meals evenly load the digestive system and provide the body with nutrients in a timely manner. Rare meals (1-2 times a day) contribute to fat deposition and increase blood cholesterol levels. They also provoke disturbances in the functioning of the thyroid gland.

The duration of the intervals depends on the time required for complete digestion of certain foods. For an adult, it is enough to wait 4 hours after the last meal. Longer abstinence stimulates excessive production of gastric juice, which irritates the gastric mucosa and can cause inflammation. A very hungry person is prone to overeating.

Too short intervals, on the contrary, can disrupt the functions of the digestive system. After the last meal, digestive juices cease to be produced in the same volume. All energy goes into digesting existing food. Therefore, it is not advisable to eat 1.5-2 hours after the last dose.

In addition, the digestive system needs at least 10 hours of rest during the day.

Eating food at the same time is very important for the body. All functions of the digestive system adapt over time to a given regime. At a certain time, the food center is excited and a feeling of hunger arises, which provokes the production of gastric juice. On average, it takes the body about a week to adapt to a new diet.

Breakfast energizes a person for the whole day and should never be neglected. The best time for a morning meal is 6 - 8 hours. It is at this time that all organs of the digestive tract are most active. To feel full before noon, you should give preference to a protein breakfast. And carbohydrates should be avoided, because... they quickly fill you up and very soon you will want to eat again.

It is better to have lunch from 12-14 o'clock. On average, this meal accounts for 40% of the total daily diet. Traditionally, people eat soups, salads, fish or red meat for lunch. To avoid bloating and heaviness in the stomach, it is better to avoid desserts and tea parties with sweets.

Afternoon snack at 16 - 17 hours, ideal time for a snack. You can eat yogurt or fruit.
The optimal time for dinner is 18-20 hours. It should be light but filling. It can be fish or white meat with a vegetable side dish.
In order for the digestion process to occur correctly, the food temperature should be no more than 60°.

When following a diet, it is important to eat in a good mood. It is better to refuse distracting sources of information, such as TV, the Internet or a book, and focus on the meal itself.

You need to give yourself enough time to eat so that you don’t have to rush. After all, the digestion process begins in the mouth, when a person carefully and slowly chews food, mixing it with saliva. High-quality processed food is easier for the body to process and helps prevent gastrointestinal diseases.

Modern people are forced to constantly think about everyday things. problems, many of them are sorely lacking time for physical exercise and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, taking medications is considered the fastest way of treatment, which makes it possible to improve your well-being and not be distracted from everyday worries. You can’t be so careless about your health, much less take all the drugs that are advertised as the most effective, without a doctor’s prescription and in large quantities in order to get immediate results.

Each person bears his own responsibility for your health. For successful treatment of any disease, do not take medications, following only the instructions included with the drug. Be sure to consult with your doctor and check the dose with him. If the doses indicated in the instructions and those prescribed by the doctor differ significantly, then check with the attending physician again about the correctness of its prescription. To successfully treat the disease, you should trust doctors and not self-medicate; perhaps the doctor has good reason to prescribe you a dose that is not indicated in the instructions. You can check the dose of the medicine using an independent source of information, for example, using the Vidal, Mashkovsky, Compendium or Trinus reference book of medicines, which today can be easily found on various websites.