In today’s fast-paced world, setting aside time for a proper lunch can be a challenge. However, dieticians emphasize that eating at regular intervals is essential not only for nutritional balance but also for preventing mindless snacking throughout the day. Timing, they say, is everything when it comes to lunch.
Lena Bakovic, a registered dietician, shared insights with RealSimple, explaining how individual schedules and habits can help determine the best time to eat lunch. For example, if someone has breakfast around 8 a.m. after waking at 7 a.m., they are likely to experience hunger again four to five hours later—making noon to 1 p.m. an ideal lunch window.
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“It’s possible that eating an earlier lunch (shortly after breakfast) will contribute to greater hunger later in the day and prior to dinnertime,” Bakovic said. “This can lead to snacking on less-than-healthy food choices.”
Conversely, delaying lunch for too long could disrupt evening eating patterns, causing someone to skip dinner or snack late into the night. That’s why meal planning is essential, said Audra Wilson, a dietician at Northwestern Medicine Metabolic Health and Surgical Weight Loss Center at Delnor Hospital, reports Surrey Live.
Wilson supports maintaining consistent mealtimes, noting that lunch four or five hours after breakfast is generally a sound strategy. For those unable to eat lunch within that window, she recommends planning a healthy snack to prevent extreme hunger and impulsive eating later.
Wilson also emphasized the importance of mindful eating. “Rather than rushing through meals or eating on the move,” she said, “taking time to sit down and enjoy your food aids digestion and enhances meal satisfaction, which is necessary for your overall well-being.”
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Victoria Taylor, a dietician with the British Heart Foundation, echoed these sentiments, pointing out that food purchased on the go is often less nutritious. She encouraged people to read food labels and aim for balanced meals, whether at home or out.
Taylor also highlighted the need for more research into which meal of the day should provide the most energy, stating, “We probably do need to tune back into our body clocks—eating when our body really needs food rather than when we have time.” She concluded, “However, it is the type of foods you choose and portion sizes that have the biggest impact on your health.”
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