Breakfast, lunch, dinner: the concept of 3 meals a day comes from time immemorial, perhaps from the beginnings of the agricultural era. “Since the beginning of civilization, we have followed the natural cycle of the day: we eat breakfast first thing in the morning or around 7 a.m., lunch at noon and finally dinner at 7 p.m. Some take a snack break in the afternoon around 5 p.m.” reminds us in the preamble of Dr. Alain Delabos, nutritionist and founding father of Chrononutrition®. From a “health” point of view, the regularity of meals made it possible to preserve and correctly distribute one’s energy expenditure and to fight against fatigue working the land, hunting or gathering.the way of life of the populations has changed, as have the daily or nocturnal occupations.
According to Dr. Delabos’ chrononutrition method, we should eat:
- in the morning: heavy and fatty, preferably saturated fats (butter, cheese, cream, no other dairy products);
- lunch: a dense lunch with animal proteins: red and white meat, beef, poultry, duck;
- in the evening: a light dinner, preferably fish or seafood, only in case of hunger or a little white meat. Very digestible, seafood does not interfere with the work of the body, which renews its cells at night. Above all, avoid cheese in the evening, because saturated fats are useless and even dangerous before bedtime.
However, according to this nutrition expert, there is no point in having absolutely 3 (or even 4 with snacks) meals per day: the only “obligatory” meals are those in the morning when you get up, then the second meal at midday. This allows the body to renew its cells. “The first two meals of the day, even for people who get up late, remain very important. The first meal upon waking up provides the body with the nutrients necessary to create new cell walls during the next night (the lipids in the morning take several hours to be assimilated by the body). The second meal (lunch, editor’s note) provides the elements constituting the interior of the cells, which will allow the body to replenish its quota of new cells to replace dead cells during the day.“continues the doctor. We can therefore be satisfied with two meals, morning and noon. “If you don’t have an appetite when you wake up, just have a light dinner in the evening to rediscover the pleasure of eating at breakfast” advises our interlocutor.
The idea of three meals a day is only associated with eating the right thing so as not to then want to eat the wrong thing. “In the evening, if you have a craving, it’s a bad sign, it means that your body has not stocked up on saturated fat. The body is therefore in demand and so we throw ourselves on sugar, the worst food mistake.” In this case, it is better to eat three meals and eat light in the evening according to the advice of Dr Delabos.
Finally, note that snacks can be added according to individual needs. For example, it may be necessary in cases of intellectual fatigue or to satisfy a craving for sugar (but if you have consumed a sufficient amount of fat in the morning, you will not be hungry). Sugars taken too late trigger gluconeogenesis: you provide too much sugar to your body, which accelerates fat production as well as weight and volume gain. For children, snack time is not obligatory either. On the other hand, it is useful to avoid frustration and “calm things down” while waiting for the evening meal. The best thing when you’re feeling peckish in the afternoon is to eat something salty: a piece of cheese, a few almonds…