Health
When we skip a meal, take an extra meal, or eat the wrong food, we feel guilty because the idea of three meals a day is firmly entrenched in our brain food. However, according to some experts, this is just a cultural concept.
People around the world, even in the West, did not always eat three meals a day. Three meals a day is a relatively recent convention and, like everything else, eating is becoming everyone's personal choice. What and when we eat is less and less influenced by the choices of our family and employees, and increasingly influenced by impulses, personal preferences and marketing moves.
Three meals a day and health
A number of new studies have examined how eating three meals a day affects health. A USDA study concluded that one large meal versus three regular meals reduces weight and fat levels, but increases blood pressure, while three meals a day lowers blood pressure. A study by the National Institute of Aging in the US found that one large meal instead of three increases insulin resistance and causes impaired glucose tolerance, two characteristics, which are common to type 2 diabetes.
A study by Maastricht University found that eating four small meals a day reduces the risk of developing obesity by 45 percent. A Dutch study also found that people who skip breakfast are five times more likely to be obese than those who usually eat breakfast. However, a study by the University of Ottawa found no link between small meals and weight loss.
Another study by UC Berkeley found that “alternate fasting,” in which a person eats one day and fasted the next, can reduce risk heart disease and cancer.
Of course, studying the effects of eating frequency is quite difficult, as there are many variables to consider, such as nutrition, time of day, physical activity, and genetics. Some scientists argue that there is no biological reason for eating three meals a day.
People are more comfortable living with schemes, as they are easy to predict. It is convenient for us to live with the idea of three meals a day. On the other hand, our schedule and our desires are increasingly undermining this idea.
Meal history
Throughout history, meals have been erratic. A medieval farmer from Northern Europe would start the morning with beer and bread, then take some food with him to the field, and had a big meal sometime in the afternoon. He could eat dinner around 2 p.m., or around 6 p.m., or later, depending on work, time of year, and other factors.
It wasn't usually a hearty meal, but rather something light and quick. At that time, dinner was not given as much importance as the past few centuries.
Dinners were also most often eaten during the daytime, not because early meals were healthier, but because cooking, eating and washing dishes were much more difficult to do in the dark or in the light fire.
Poor people tried to plan meals before dark. And when electricity was opened, only rich people could afford late meals. Eating after dark was considered a sign of status and class.
Eating late, or eating more or less than three times a day, also reflects the difference between normal work and traditional family life.
Work, family and meals
Throughout the 20th century, most workers were only able to eat at specific times. When the factory announced it was five o'clock, it was the time when everyone was going home to eat. Today, many people start eating later and later due to long working hours or irregular work schedules. Today, the three-meal model is increasingly losing ground, due to the fact that different family members have different schedules and because children do not always want to eat what their parents eat.
The idea that a child can choose what to eat and when would have been shocking decades ago. However, many families are now seeing the disappearance of eating habits, despite the fact that research shows that eating together with the family improves nutrition, academic performance, interpersonal skills and reduces the risk of developing eating disorders.
Electronic devices in which food is available at any time of the day also undermine the idea of three meals a day. This is also facilitated by the food industry, which encourages us to eat as much and as often as we want. The advent of various kinds of snacks has blurred the boundaries between snacks and meals. And perhaps in the near future, any time of the day can be considered a time for eating.