2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
From an early age we know that there are three main meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. But where does this rule come from and is it still valid today?
Today we will easily conclude that the habit of eating 3 times a day is an acquisition of the modern age and is associated with fixed working hours. But the working day is no longer strictly defined, therefore eating 3 times a day loses its significance.
However, the correct time intervals between meals should be observed, because this leads not only to the receipt of energy from food, but also to a good distribution of nutrients in it.
It is not necessary to adhere strictly to the rule of eating in the morning, noon and evening, but we must strive to achieve a balance between meals and our own nutritional needs. In this way we will achieve both good health and optimal performance of our duties during the working day.
Of course, the rule remains that breakfast should be the richest in nutrients, because it will put a good start to the day and provide the necessary energy for the body. Then the food you eat should be lighter.
Although it seems to us that the habit of eating 3 times a day is rooted somewhere in the past, this is not the case. Our ancestors lived in different conditions and led a radically different lifestyle. Therefore, their diet was different from ours. It was related to religious beliefs and field work.
History of breakfast
Medieval rules forbade eating before the liturgy. Even the ancient Romans did not see breakfast as a real meal. She was a child of the seventeenth century, when the middle class gathered around the table. The first real breakfast is from the beginning of the industrial revolution. Then more and more people started working in factories, and this required more energy.
Thus, the day began with plenty of food, which provided energy until the next meal. Unlike the Middle Ages, when only the upper class could afford a rich breakfast, this new habit was adopted by everyone - from the worker to the director.
It was not until the 20th century that breakfast gained the status of a main meal of the day, because the focus had already shifted from providing energy to metabolism. That is why doctors declare it to be the main means of losing weight. It was believed to unlock calorie expenditure. But subsequent research shows that the latter depends more on individual physical activity, not so much on nutrition.
Lunch in the middle of the day
In different historical periods this diet has a different meaning. In the old days, people organized their day around daylight. And because they started work early in the morning, they went hungry in the middle of the day, and in that sense it was a kind of breakfast, consisting mainly of bread and cheese.
Lunch peaked again during the Industrial Revolution, when eating habits synchronized with the workday. Due to the long hours of work, the workers had to stop working and recover the energy expended. This is how the first food stands appeared, which acquired the type and purpose we know today at the beginning of the 20th century.
Focus on dinner
Dinner can be said to have existed since the dawn of time. It was the staple food for the ancient Romans, medieval aristocrats and wealthy merchants. But the idea of dinner is changing along with the length of the day. What we would define as dinner today, two hundred years ago, is something completely different. With the development of technology, the light part of the day became longer, and the time for dinner was shifted to an ever later hour - again in accordance with the working day. When the starving workers left the factories and returned home, dinner became mandatory. In this way, they could spend time with their families and satisfy their hunger after a long working day.
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