Is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Should you avoid carbs after 6pm? What’s the deal with late night snacking?
A handful of recent studies suggest it’s not only what you eat, but when you eat that can have a dramatic impact on your health. This has thrown many time-related diet rules into the wellness world spotlight.
But does it really matter what time of day you have your breakfast? We’ve had the experts weigh in on five “timely” eating approaches.
1. “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.”
The idea behind eating most of your food earlier in the day may seem pretty intuitive – you’ll have more “awake” hours to “burn off” what you’re putting in.
But we all know that “calories in versus calories in out” just isn’t that simple. Rather, “as long as you are eating adequate amounts overall, you can generally pick and choose what sits best with you,” says says dietician and IQS Expert Natalie Bourke.
Personal trainer and IQS Expert Diana Tencic agrees. “If you are a morning exerciser this would not work for you,” she notes. “In fact, you’d probably throw up your breakfast!”
2. “No white at night.”
The idea that you shouldn’t have carbohydrates at night ties back into the whole burning calories thing, because white carbs like pasta and bread are usually quite calorie-dense. The fear is that unburned carbs will turn to fat, or mess about with blood sugar levels.
But time is not really a factor here, says Diana. “It’s more about the quantity of ‘white’ we eat rather than when we eat it. And the activity we engaged in during the day.”
3. “Fast before noon.”
Intermittent fasting regimes like 16:8 and 5:2 are fast gaining popularity as a means to improve overall health and reduce risk of disease.
For Natalie, context is hugely important here. “If you’re generally healthy, go for it,” she says. “But if you are dealing with blood sugar issues or hormonal imbalances, you’re highly active or going through a stressful period, I wouldn’t generally recommend fasting before noon.”
4. “Eat every 3 hours.”
Proponents of this approach say grazing speeds up the metabolism, making you a lean, mean eating machine. Not so, say Natalie and Diana.
“Optimal meal frequency is something that will change depending on who you are and what you’re dealing with,” says Natalie. “If you’re generally healthy, I would stick to three meals a day, to give your system time to rest and digest.”
Diana agrees: “That’s why the I Quit Sugar: 8-Week Program works so well, because it provides nutritionally dense main meals to sustain you throughout the day.”
5. “Don’t eat for two hours before bed.”
The idea behind this one is that any food you hit up before hitting the hay is just providing unnecessary extra calories. But if you’re listening to what your body needs and fuelling it with real food, calories no longer matter all that much!
“This doesn’t really matter beyond personal preference and how your body feels,’ says Natalie. “Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full and let your body guide you.”
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