WHo decided that most americans would eat breakfast, then lunch, then dinner?
DO folks in so-called uncivilized areas eat only once a day?
What harm would that do?
How about 5 meals a day?
Received wisdom - in other words “what people told me.”
Generally speaking, it’s an issue of blood sugar levels. Humans should eat at least every 5 1/2 hours so that blood sugar levels don’t drop to the point that you are lethargic, inattentive, etc. That averages out to about 3 meals during waking periods.
Some dieticians say that humans should instead eat 5-6 smaller meals spaced throughout the day to keep sugar levels up, more closely correspond eating to activity, etc. Don’t know enough to comment about that, nor of the eating habits of other cultures. I do know that the primary meal of the day being dinner is a relatively recent trend - and one not particularly suited to human’s energy needs.
V.
Speaking for myself, and I am unanimous in this, I usually eat once or twice a day - only occasionally three times. I don’t think it’s hurt me too much. On the other hand, I did just have to have my gall bladder out thanks to stones. So, uh, forget what I said.
Personally, I think 3 meals is pretty much a minimum. To cut it down to 2 meals would average 12 hours between meals. In order to last 12 hours without eating (and without getting distractedly hungry in between) I would need to stuff myself at the 2 meals, to the point of being uncomfortably full at the end of each meal.
I can imagine having more than 3 (smaller) meals, and some days I actually do this just because it works out best for that day. But there’s a certain amount of overhead to preparing (and cleaning up after) any meal, even if it’s smaller. I also find that it’s harder for me to balance the types of food I eat when I do this, though I guess I could do better with this if I formed different habits.
So 3 meals/day seems like a reasonable point to settle on as a covention, balancing the needs of the digestive system with efficiency.
Minor nit: The major meal has always been dinner, but it’s only recently that dinner has commonly been supper. Supper is the evening meal; dinner is whichever meal happens to be the largest. Hence, at my Gramma’s house, where the major meal is generally at midday, we eat breakfast, dinner, and supper.
For what it’s worth, I often eat only two meals on the weekends, but then, I spend less time awake on weekends, too.