Diet - Whim Or Necessity

The correct diet involves determining a number of indicators:

• multiplicity of food (quantity);
• time of meals and the intervals between them;
• distribution of the diet by chemical composition, calorie content, set of products and weight;
• the manner of a person's actions while eating is his behavior.

The main criterion that determines the time of meals is the feeling of hunger. It can be detected by the following sign: when thinking about unattractive food (for example, a piece of stale black bread), saliva is released, at such a moment the tongue needs food more than the stomach.

It is very easy to confuse the feeling of hunger with the following conditions: the stomach "sucks up", "sucks" under the spoon, spasms occur. All this indicates the unloading of the organ after overflowing, the needs of the stomach and the food center of appetite (a number of brain structures that coordinate the selection, consumption of food and the initial stages of digestion).

It is important to distinguish the concepts of hunger and appetite when organizing a proper diet . Hunger indicates the need for energy, appetite indicates the need for satisfaction. The right impulse to eat should be hunger, since the delusion of appetite can lead to excess weight.

4 to 6 hours are considered the optimal intervals with a proper diet , they ensure the normal functioning of the digestive system.

Long breaks between meals can lead to the following consequences:

• Excessive excitation of the food center is observed.
• A large volume of gastric juice is released, which irritates the mucous membrane of the stomach and leads to inflammatory processes.

The disadvantage of short intervals is the insufficient amount of time for the full implementation of digestion processes. This can provoke disorders of the secretory and motility of the gastrointestinal tract.

The regularity of meals with a proper diet  is extremely important. Because a conditioned reflex is formed, which awakens the feeling of hunger until a certain time. It, in turn, is the reason for the excitation of the food center and the start of the reflex secretion of gastric juice.

When choosing a specific diet , it is necessary to strictly follow it, because food stress has a negative effect on the body.

According to the chemical composition , the distribution of nutrients can be as follows:

• in conditions of heavy physical labor - 1 protein, 1.3 fat, 5 carbohydrates;
• with a sedentary or sedentary lifestyle - 1 proteins, 1.1 fats, 4.1 carbohydrates.

According to calorie content, there are several different points of view on the distribution of food:

• Breakfast is the maximum - 40-50%, about 25% remains for lunch and dinner. This is due to the higher vital activity of the body of most people in the first half of the day.
• Food is actually distributed evenly: 30% is for breakfast and dinner, and 40% for lunch.
• Dinner is the maximum - 50%, for breakfast and lunch - 25%. This distribution is determined by the fact that optimal absorption of food requires an optimal volume of blood and a state of complete rest, which is present in a person during sleep.
• Small food regime - 5-6 times a day, portions are uniform. With such a diet, the metabolism accelerates, the metabolism normalizes, the digestive organs work throughout the day. A person who eats the daily norm of calories in 2-3 times can not only not reduce his weight, but also get better. If the same number of calories is divided into 5-6 meals, then this does not lead to fullness, but also contributes to weight loss.

While eating, it is best to concentrate on the food itself, and also to be in a good mood. That is, you need to isolate external stimuli, such as a book, TV, etc. Because focused thoughts will provide a better result — optimal digestion and assimilation. Negative emotions also have a bad effect on digestion.

An important component of eating behavior when organizing a proper diet is thorough chewing, when pieces of food are crushed to a liquid state, where there are no inhomogeneities.

From the point of view of physiology, this is extremely important, since the breakdown of nutrients occurs only in a dissolved form, and not in the form of coma, the efficiency of the digestive tract increases. Commas slow down the digestion process, causing the risk of putrefaction. In addition, well-processed food in a liquid state allows you to reduce the amount of consumed products due to the increased percentage of assimilation. Also, the body's energy expenditure is reduced due to better pre-treatment and a smaller volume of food.

Today, the most common correct mode of nutrition is considered fractional.

Five small meals — small portions every 3-4 hours — are necessary for those who actively train or greatly reduce the caloric intake of meals in order to get rid of fat deposits.

If you are in good shape and do not practice anything except morning exercise, you can limit yourself to 3-4 meals with 4-5 hour intervals.

Those who are losing weight need to have dinner 3-4 hours before bedtime, for everyone else, 1-2 hours is enough. However, you should not overeat before going to bed and drink in large quantities.

Usually, with 4-5 meals, it is recommended to divide food into main meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - and snacks. The so-called second breakfast and afternoon snack should be smaller in volume and "lighter" in terms of calories than the main meals. Nutritionists recommend eating at the same time so that the body develops a habit of preparing for meals. Spending less than 20 minutes on one meal is inadmissible, as you need to chew your food carefully and without haste.

• Breakfast should be rich in complex carbohydrates and proteins. The former give the body energy, and the latter are additional building material for tissues and organs. In addition, this combination perfectly fights hunger pangs, so you will not feel the desire to snack for quite a long time. You can eat porridge with yogurt or skimmed milk, add a piece of meat or fish, tofu or egg white. Such a breakfast is also suitable for weight loss.
• The second breakfast is entirely devoted to fiber. Eat fiber-rich fruit and a portion of protein food, such as yogurt or kefir. If you are at work, prepare a smoothie ahead of time and drink it at the specified time.
• Lunch - you can eat complex carbohydrates (cereal and pasta) plus a portion of protein and a source of fiber (vegetable salad). Regarding soups, nutritionists do not have the same opinion. Some believe that they do not give a feeling of satiety and stretch the stomach, while others believe that, on the contrary, they help restore strength. Scientific studies confirm that low-fat soup-cream helps to reduce weight, because it contains all the ingredients in a form that is convenient for digestion and assimilation, and also satisfies the need for hot. But it is recommended to combine soup and other foods in one meal only for those who are engaged in heavy physical work. If you are used to the first dishes, refuse the side dish, but eat meat or fish. And, of course, you should avoid salads generously seasoned with mayonnaise.
• Afternoon is the time for sweets. For those who are losing weight, fruits or dried fruits. Everyone else can treat themselves to half a portion of their favorite dessert and coffee or tea.
• Dinner - you should eat only protein and fiber. Meat, fish, chicken plus a salad of fresh vegetables or stewed cabbage with a small amount of oil is a win-win combination for dinner. You can also drink a glass of wine, but dessert should not be eaten during the last meal. For those who are losing weight, it will be useful to replace dinner with a glass of kefir and 100 g of low-fat cottage cheese a couple of times a week.

A proper diet requires eating dinner three or even four hours before bedtime, as some nutritionists claim. In less time, the proteins that are advised to be eaten in the morning and in the evening simply will not have time to be digested, and the next morning you will wake up without rest and with a heaviness in your stomach.

This rule also works in the case of light proteins, for example, fish, and even cottage cheese (if it is a full portion and not a few spoons) will leave the stomach only after 2-2.5 hours. It is worth considering this, and not to overload your enzyme system at night. But, for example, a portion of green salad or stewed vegetables can be eaten an hour before bedtime.

Having dinner at 18:00 in the evening and no later is meaningful only if you go to bed at nine or ten o'clock, say nutritionists. Otherwise, the gap between today's last meal and tomorrow's first meal will be very long. This risks fluctuations in the level of sugar and insulin in the blood, uncontrollable attacks of hunger and overeating.

In other words, it is quite difficult to withstand such a diet. And there is a significant risk that after having dinner at six o'clock in the evening, you will go to the refrigerator at night.

This is another rule of a healthy diet . In the evening hours, one biochemical process takes place in our body, in the morning - another. In the first half of the day, stress hormones predominate, which stimulate physical activity and help burn calories, the lion's share of which the body receives precisely at the expense of carbohydrates. Closer to the night, the level of hormones changes. And, if we eat a product with a high glycemic index - this is again carbohydrates (primarily simple), especially in combination with fats - all this significantly increases the level of insulin. This, in turn, contributes to the deposition of fat and the development of atherosclerosis, which is dangerous for the cardiovascular system.

Carbohydrates are pasta, porridge, muesli, which are best eaten at breakfast and dinner. And, also, fruits, which nutritionists advise to save for the after-party. And vegetables are not infrequently used for dinner.

When deciding at which meal you can eat a particular product, you need to focus on the quantity and quality of carbohydrates it contains. If it is mainly simple sugars and there is not much of them (honey, sugar, sweet and soft non-fibrous fruits and berries such as grapes), then if you should treat yourself to such food, then only in the morning. If there are a lot of carbohydrates in the product and it is primarily polysaccharides, that is, starch and fiber (cereals, potatoes, grain bread), the time for these products is in the first half of the day. Such food will not cause fluctuations in blood sugar, but will provide the necessary energy to the muscles and brain. In the evening, when there is no particular vigor, unsweetened berries with a high fiber content (currants, strawberries) and vegetables will be useful - although they contain carbohydrates, however, in small quantities.

Fruit should not be eaten before the main meal as a snack or after dessert. Together with other food, fruit is delayed in the digestive system. This leads to alcoholic fermentation, which significantly worsens digestion and assimilation of food, and also causes unpleasant symptoms: from bloating and pain in the stomach to dysbacteriosis.

After all, this only applies to fresh fruit. If the fruits have undergone heat treatment, for example, were stewed with meat or added to pilaf, the organic acids that provoke fermentation are destroyed and do not cause digestive problems.

In this case, firstly, the probability of overeating decreases: because, as is known, the body often confuses the feeling of hunger and thirst. And, secondly, water will not disrupt the normal functioning of the digestive system. It is also not advisable to drink food — it reduces the concentration of digestive juices. In addition, water entering an already full stomach stretches it, which further contributes to overeating. You can drink water only one and a half hours after eating.

But you can safely afford a cup of tea immediately after lunch or breakfast. According to nutritionists, warm drinks do not prevent the body from digesting food.

Water is a good way to start not only a meal, but also a day. A glass of water immediately after waking up will start the work of the stomach and intestines. But at night, on the contrary, it is better not to get drunk. Approximately 3/4 of the fluid needed per day (this volume is calculated from 30 ml per 1 kg of body weight) is better to drink in the first half of the day.