Can your meal timings affect your health?

As it turns out, yes!

A balanced diet is key for a healthy lifestyle. That includes not only eating right but eating at the right times too. You may have heard the saying, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper” by well-known American author and nutritionist Adelle Davis? It holds true for all of us, especially working men and women.

“Meal timings are more important than the meal we eat,” Pinkvilla quoted Indian nutritionist Sonia Bakshi, as saying. “Our body gets used to eating food at a certain times daily. If deprived of food at that time, it starts storing fat because it needs more energy to perform various activities,” she explained.

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The first meal of the day is breakfast, which should ideally be consumed within two hours of waking up, usually between 8 am to 10 am. Youngsters these days tend to skip breakfast due to busy work schedules which has led to a steep rise in obesity, diabetes and other sedentary diseases. “All those who skip breakfast can never lose weight or be healthy because their body is performing all its activities in starvation mode,” Bakshi added.

With fluctuating shifts, there doesn’t seem to be a ‘right’ time for lunch and dinner. Any food containing at least 210 calories is considered a meal; below that is counted as a snack. “The body adapts to meal timings,” Ritika Sammadar, a dietician said. “It is not at all a need to follow a particular timeline but certain key points must be kept in mind.”

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She continued, “After waking up, a person should eat within two to three hours for better insulin sensitivity. Eat your dinner early so that the food is well digested before you sleep. Follow a two-to-four hour meal pattern to get a constant source of energy. The quality of food is equally important.” Therefore, plan your meals in advance and make sure it adheres to a 10-12 hour timeframe, according to your body clock.

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