What is the best time for dinner?

We must have established schedules for daily feeding. An important part of a healthy intake, in addition to the proportions, ingredients and combinations, is the time at which we do each intake.

For one thing, we shouldn't go too long without food after we get up in the morning. The same goes for snacks and food. But what is always in doubt is at dinner, what is the best time for dinner?

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Find out what time is the most suitable for dinner

Nutritionists recommend specific times for each food. That is the reason why diets usually include two snacks (or hors d'oeuvres) a day. Because the body must "recharge" with energy throughout the day.

Nevertheless, dinner is different because it happens before we go to sleep. Sleep well It is essential for good health, and the time we eat dinner, as well as what we consume, have a lot to do with the quality of sleep. For that reason it is important to know what is the best time for dinner.

The importance of dinner

It is not always advisable to go to bed without dinner. Besides that it seems like a daily punishment for some moms who send their children to sleep without having tried the last food of the day, many adults use this as a strategy to lose weight. weight. Although it has a logic and could work, the truth is that it is not always the best.

During the sleep cycle, the body goes too long without food and although physical and mental activity decreases, there is effort and energy expenditure. That is why it is advisable to have something to eat before bed, but the difference for a healthy dinner lies in what we eat at this time of day and our habits and schedules to eat this last food.

So more than skipping dinner and going to sleep without eating, it is better to establish a routine of schedules throughout the day and be careful especially with dinner time. In addition to this, the foods we eat at the end of the day must be adequate to promote a restful rest and at the same time avoid a drop in sugar levels due to lack of food.

Herein lies the importance of dinner. But for it to be a moment that favors us and helps us with our nutrition and health, we must follow some tips, For example, something very important is the type of food that we are going to eat and above all: having dinner at one hour adequate.

The right foods for dinner

We must be careful with what we eat for dinner. The most important thing is that they are light foods, it must be taken into account that the body goes into inactivity and it is difficult to process heavy food, high in fat or sugar. Furthermore, this makes it difficult to have a deep and restful sleep.

Among the foods that you should definitely avoid are those high in carbohydrates. In other words, cookies, bread, pizza and industrialized cereals are not a good idea at all. Red meat should not be eaten at dinner either. Pasta, rice, potatoes should also be suppressed at this time. And in general all the fast food, is ruled out.

Fried food should also be discarded at dinner time. As for alcohol, it is best to drink it long before dinner or at least if it is not usual or daily to drink it before going to sleep. Although many people claim that drinking some alcohol helps them sleep better, it is counterproductive in the long run.

What you do have to consume is foods that, in addition to being light, provide tryptophan, which helps to produce melatonin, the hormone that promotes restful sleep. Some options are: yogurt, milk, cheeses, nuts, eggs, chicken, and blue fish. Vegetables are always recommended and a salad is also a great option.

The best time for dinner

In addition to food, time is essential to have a good dinner. You shouldn't eat food immediately before going to sleep, and you shouldn't have too many hours between your last meal and when you go to bed to rest. So you have to create a routine with all the foods of the day.

Breakfast should be done before 9:30 a.m. and it shouldn't be more than two hours after we wake up to eat our first meal of the day. The meal should not be made after 3:00 p.m. And between these meals you should have a snack. It can be a fruit or a handful of some dried fruit.

As for dinner, the maximum time to carry it out is at 9:30 p.m.. But it is important that it be done 3 hours before going to bed. So depending on the time we get used to going to rest, we must calculate 3 hours before and then eat the last food. So if we sleep at 23:00, then dinner should be maximum at 20:00.

Between lunch and dinner there may be an intermission a little stronger than a collation, that is, a snack. You can choose yogurt with fruit or whole wheat bread with cheese. In this way, when you get to dinner you will not feel so hungry and the light foods that are recommended for the last meal of the day will be enough.

So the best thing is that you organize a routine with schedules to make the three most important meals of the day. With this, you will be helping the metabolism to work properly, that there is no accumulation of fat, that your sleep really provide a good rest and that you do not feel anxiety about going to bed without dinner thinking that this will help lose weight.

Bibliographic references

• Herrera Racionero, Paloma (2010). From eating to nourishing. The enlightened ignorance of the modern diner. Plaza and Valdés.

• Papadia C, Di Sabatino A, Corazza GR, Forbes A (February 2014). "Diagnosing small bowel malabsorption: a review". Intern Emerg Med (Review) 9 (1).

• Woo KS, Kwok TC, Celermajer DS (August 2014). "Vegan diet, subnormal vitamin B-12 status and cardiovascular health". Nutrients (Review).