The suggested meal pattern must be based on good nutrition principles of variety, regularity of mealtime, and adequacy. The pattern must provide for an easy-to-follow guide and, at the same time, flexibility for a wide array of food choices.
Which should be your biggest meal?
Breakfast should be the heaviest meal and supper the lightest. This is because most of your activities are concentrated early in the day, and you need more energy in the morning. Taking a heavy (not overloaded) breakfast will help you eat less during supper. This is the first step to weight control.
How often should you eat?
There should be at least a 5-hour interval between meals for digestion efficiency. A regular meal will be digested in 4 to 5 hours depending on its composition (kinds and amount of food). This makes the 3-regular-meal pattern practical.
If your digestive system is to continue working for the rest of your life, it deserves breaktimes! Having at least a 5-hour break in between meals automatically discharges snacking! This way, you do not overburden your digestive system.
It would be very easy for you to wait until the next mealtime if you eat enough food. The variety of food groups represented every meal is better than just eating one kind of food in a meal. Following your dietitian’s advice or, in its absence, the Food Pyramid allowances, you can be confident that you neither overeat nor undereat.
How late should you take your supper?
Early breakfast means early supper. It is highly recommended that you take your day’s last meal at least 3 hours before bedtime. This will ensure you of a more restful sleep and better weight control.
What about fruits every meal?
Fruits and vegetables must not be together in one meal. You digest these foods better and easier if they are not eaten together. Remember that you want to lighten your digestive system’s work. So, fruits are scheduled during breakfast and supper; and vegetables, during lunch. Thus, your fruit and vegetable requirements will be met by the end of the day.
Have you forgotten anything?
By the way, you should not forget your water needs. Water is both a nutrient and a food. Unfortunately, it is often not given due attention. About 6 to 8 (at least) glasses of plain, clean water is generally enough. It would be best for you to take juices and other healthful drinks in addition to the daily recommended water intake.
You drink almost 2 glasses of water every meal…
It is best to drink water at least 30 minutes before mealtime or at least one and a half hours after mealtime. If you drink plenty of water or any other fluid during mealtime, the perfectly proportioned enzymes and juices will be diluted and digestion may be less than efficient. This again will make the work of your digestive system heavier. If ever you need to drink during mealtime, do it by sips rather than gulps.
Your own schedule of meal pattern…
You may be engaged in a work with night duties or evening shifts. You may have an emergency overtime. You may be used to eating just twice a day. Hence, the heavy-breakfast-light-supper pattern may not be suited for you.
The general rule is for you to eat the heaviest meal before working hours and the lightest meal before sleeping. If you eat two times a day, both meals should be heavy. Be sure that the second meal is taken at least 3 hours before bedtime.
What counts as one serving?
To make wise and healthy food choices, you have to identify which foods are included in the different pyramid groups. It is clear where most foods belong. Combination foods may include foods in more than one pyramid group. Say for example, a serving of spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese can be included in the rice/bread group, the vegetable group and also meat group. But what counts as one serving?
The term one serving is very relative. A serving at a certain restaurant may be bigger or smaller compared to a serving at another eating place. Portion control may vary from server to server. Fortunately, research has made standardized serving sizes possible.
The food items are grouped according to the major nutrients that they contribute to the diet and in their 1 standardized serving sizes. A serving portion is called an exchange. Each food item can be exchanged with any other item within the same food group/list provided the serving size is followed. This makes much more room for flexibility and variety in meals.
A serving portion of the following can be considered an exchange if it provides:
1) Vegetables (about 16 kilocalories)
2) Fruits (about 40 kilocalories)
3) Milk (about 80 [nonfat] or 170 [whole] kilocalories)
4) Rice/bread (about100 kilocalories)
5) Meat (about 68 kilocalories)
6) Fat (about 45 kilocalories)
Reference: Healing Wonders of Diet Effective Guide to Diet Therapy p.224-227 © 2003 Philippine Publishing House ISBN 971-581-013-6
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