Why Lunch Should Be The Day's Biggest Meal, According To Experts

[marmar]

Why Lunch Should Be The Day's Biggest Meal, According To Experts
How American work culture has led to unhealthy eating patterns, and what we can do to change the focus away from dinner.

By Courtney Iseman
02/16/2021 05:45am EST | Updated 8 hours ago


(HuffPost) The old saying goes: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” In present-day America, however, our approach to meals tends to be the opposite.

There are a few theories behind why we seem stuck in a pattern with dinner as the heaviest meal. A 2015 Washington Post article references a study on circadian rhythms possibly causing hunger spikes and cravings for sweet, salty, starchy foods later at night, along with the suggestion that this may be due to evolution: It was once efficient for humans to eat late at night in order to store energy as fat and glycogen for the next day. There’s also the hormone factor: Cortisol and adrenaline drop off midday, so if we’re working late into evening or night, we’re looking for a boost from food.

And then there are work schedules, which seem to be the most prevalent and inescapable driver of today’s eating habits ― habits detrimental to health and well-being, negatively affecting everything from sleep to waistlines.

“I think it’s all wrong,” said Patrick Okolo III, chief of gastroenterology for Rochester Regional Health. Okolo said it’s important to view the implications of eating our largest meal latest in the day from a digestive standpoint, as well as an overall health perspective. As for the latter, we don’t metabolize food as well at night because of the normal, natural rhythm of the body. ..................(more)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lunch-should-be-biggest-meal_l_601acb8fc5b668b8db3dd497

[soothsayer]

1. So what's wrong with the old saying?

I miss Adelle Davis

[hlthe2b]

2. Right... Like any of us could sit down to a full meal while working at lunch time.

Granted if you are cautious about not eating a lot of non-complex carbs and instead significant protein with a little fat, you might not go back to work and pass out in a carbohydrate coma, but still. I'm lucky to down a powerbar, a little cheese and a gulp or two of iced tea. I can't even remember the last time (years ago prior to COVID) that I went out while working for lunch.

I don't discount the point, however.

[Clash City Rocker]

3. Most Americans don't have that much time for a big lunch

My parents grew up in farm families, and lunch was their big meal of the day, because they went out to the field afterward and worked those calories off. Today most people work in offices, and don’t get enough time off for lunch that they could do that, plus most jobs are not that physical, so a big lunch might make people sleepy the rest of the day.

[jaysunb]

4. As a kid growing up in the south, the midday meal was the largest.. we called

It dinner .Breakfast and supper were always smaller meals and likely to involve some parts ot the dinner meal.
It wasn't until we migrated north did supper become the dominant or largest meal of the day. With my dad's work schedule and our school hours we had to conform to a different regimen.
Now, in my old age I've reverted to the old ways . Eating big meals in the evening affect my sleep and following day energy.
Many of the healthier people in my age group don't eat or drink anything after 6pm. It seems like a good idea.

[procon]

5. We grew up in Europe. There's always food on the table.

We started early (way too early) with a big, hot breakfast with bits of everything. Lunch tended to be light, maybe a sammie, cup of soup, small salad or fruit served around 11am to maybe 1pm.

Dinner was excruciating, the big main meal of the day might be more formal and always commenced at 6pm. We had to be dressed, well mannered and properly groomed as if guests were attending. It was a test. Very unpleasant, but I am now an expert on fine table manners.

Supper was later at night 10-12, and centered more on conversation than food. We usually ate weird stuff like canned fishes on sliced bread, cheese and crackers, dried fruits, pickled veggies. There was wine and tea, sometimes cake. Then off to bed.