Regarding food, several expressions go in and out of fashion. You’ve probably heard that eating every 3 hours is critical to staying healthy. Yeah, the break between meals is just as important as what to eat, as this period directly influences satiety levels.
When we go long without eating, our body does not have the energy needed to perform activities and maintain body balance since food is essential to survival. Therefore, having 5 to 6 meals a day is the best way to promote the proper functioning of the organism.
Want to know more? Continue reading this post and discover the importance of having adequate food throughout the day!
Why Eat Every 3 Hours?
Who has never heard the phrase that says, “an empty bag does not stand up”? To keep your health up to date, it is essential to enjoy a diet rich in macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, and in micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals.
Staying for a certain fasting period causes the metabolism to work more slowly, thus impairing fat burning. This happens due to the body starting to store more energy and spend less. In addition, the lack of nutrients to generate strength causes the degradation of muscles, and the chances of losing muscle mass are even more significant.
On the other hand, eating more frequently favors weight gain since the caloric expenditure is not related to the number of meals but to the type and amount of food consumed. For this reason, to keep body weight up to date, snacks made between the main meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, should be light and healthy.
Check below the main reasons why we should eat every 3 hours.
Increases Metabolism
Metabolism refers to the number of calories we burn to carry out our routine functions. In that case, if the metabolism has low levels, we are burning a few calories. On the other hand, if it is high, many calories are burned.
So, contrary to what some think, eating every 3 hours does not significantly influence weight loss. What happens is that every time we eat food, our organism spends a certain amount of energy to digest it. For this reason, every time we eat, we stimulate caloric expenditure.
Prevents Hunger Attacks
Eating a few times a day is a widespread habit among those who have a busy life. That is, the absence of a food routine leads most people to have a meal only when they are hungry or even when they remember to eat – which can lead to over consumption of food.
Given this, to avoid possible hunger attacks, it is essential to eat every 3 hours, as splitting meals creates a tendency to eat less and just enough for satiety. Another critical factor is chewing. If you eat quickly, you may ignore chewing, and devouring food causes you to consume more.
By scheduling meals, on the other hand, you have time to chew well, which helps with the feeling of satiety and makes digestion more efficient.
Keeps Energy Levels Steady
Individuals who go many hours without eating show signs of sluggishness and tiredness . This occurs due to food deprivation, as the lack of nutrients from food causes an energy imbalance. Therefore, to stimulate energy production, it is essential to eat every 3 hours. Remember to give preference to healthier foods, right?
Decreases Fat Storage
One of the main reasons for increasing the number of meals throughout the day is to decrease fat storage. Every time our brain understands that we are without food, it triggers the survival mechanism to prevent the body from running out of energy.
However, when we eat again, the organism acts on mechanisms that store this energy as fat for use when necessary. Better prevent that from happening!
What Is The Importance Of Setting The Pace Of Food?
Regardless of whether the athlete is a professional or an amateur, to maintain day-to-day activities, it is essential to prepare a food program that considers their basic energy needs. Therefore, a healthy diet is entirely linked to its effectiveness in physical exercise.
A familiar doubt among physical activity practitioners is about the importance of setting the pace of food since it is essential for those who aim to lose weight and those who want to gain muscle mass.
Each organism has a specific nutritional need, so what works for you may not work for others and vice versa. Therefore, it is important to prioritize some food groups and dispense with others so that the body performs best.
Therefore, the most appropriate way to feed yourself will depend on your goal. You can wait an hour after training to eat those who want to lose weight. For those who want to gain muscle mass, eating carbohydrates with a high glycemic value and protein after physical exercise is ideal.
Just like pre-workout nutrition, post-workout nutrition is essential in sports, as it helps the body recover and form energy stores. Therefore, to understand your nutritional needs, it is essential to consult a good nutritionist and, thus, establish an ideal food routine for your type of training.