It’s more of a tradition than anything, and it’s kind of unnecessary for our health (maybe even bad for our guts idk – personal experience).
The whole idea seems like a scam to me, forcing you to buy more than you actually need to fill in the blanks. Dinner for example; you need a protein, you need a carb, need a salad or veggie, etc. – whatever else a grocery chart from the 80s says you need.
The three main meals a day thing benefits the food industry, chain restaurants, and diet culture more than it benefits any average person’s health.
No one actually needs to eat all of that in one sitting to be healthy, or to get in your nutrients for the day. Forcing ourselves to eat just because it’s a “mealtime” is literally just culture and almost a performance.
(I’m not a nutritionist, I just know I feel better eating based on what I need, when I need it – vs. sitting down for three full meals + snacks.)
Bloating after eating, reflux, etc. is not normal and (in my case at least) was easily prevented by spreading out nutritional needs throughout the day instead of eating big meals only a few times a day.
IT’S UNNECESSARY & A SCAM & I hate cooking meals with a passion
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idk i usually feel pretty hungry when i wake up, then about mid day i’m hungry again, then i couple hours before bed i’m hungry too. 3 meals is pretty practical.
Yes yes yes and yes
Thank u
Agree – two meals + healthy snack is more than enough
>No one actually needs to eat all of that in one sitting to be healthy, or to get in your nutrients for the day. Forcing ourselves to eat just because it’s a “mealtime” is literally just culture and almost a performance.
…have you considered not gorging yourself during a meal?
That’s you. Will never be me.
I agree 3 meals a day doesn’t work for everyone but you can’t argue against basic macros and vitamins T_T we need carbs, protein, and vegetables, and combining them into a single meal can be convenient
Yeah, no. I have a very physically demanding job, so I need my meals
You’re absolutely right. Three meals a day is a falsehood. It’s more about nutrient consumption + healthy caloric intake.
It really doesn’t matter when you eat.
In fact, intermittent fasting has many health benefits. Eating throughout the day forces your brain expect food and nutrients when it doesn’t need it, often times leading to overeating.
I mean I sort of get what you’re saying but if I don’t eat multiple meals spread out through the day I quickly stop being able to function. like breakfast might be a cheese stick and tea with whole milk, lunch might be a sandwich or just a chunk of bread and a chunk of meat, dinner tonight specifically was a sausage a bell pepper a handful of cherry tomatoes and a cucumber, there’s snacks scattered throughout.
I eat a lot of small meals or snacks or else I get lightheaded
Not to be a stickler, but a nutritionist is a nonsense title.
Would love to hear from dieticians though.
Are you a child being fed by someone else? How is anyone “forcing” you to buy anything to feed yourself? Also 3 meals a day does not necessarily mean 3 big meals. But the degree of anger seems like you might have some food issues to unpack.
I 200% agree. I only eat 2 big meals every day with small snacks and shakes in between and I am able to hit my protein and all my nutrients perfectly.
Is this not an unpopular opinion? Why are there not more upvotes. I thought it was unpopular. Whenever I say this I get backlash
I don’t really follow much a structure anymore. Lunch is the only constant
Agreed. I like it best when I do several smaller “snacks”/light meals through the day, kinda just grazing on whatever food is available, and then have dinner with maybe an actual snack food later in the evening. I hate eating when I first wake up but if it gets to noon/the early PMs and I haven’t eaten I’m hungry. Option 1 is breakfast and maybe lunch, and that’s fine but I kinda have to force myself into it. Option 2, just eating small foods throughout, feels much better for me personally.
I usually have a meal and a snack. Maybe just a couple snacks.
I’ve mainly stuck to 1 or 2 meals a day and I’ve been great.
😂😂😂😂😂scam.
No one’s forcing you to eat
As someone who recently went to a dietician… some people don’t need more than 1 or 2 meals and that’s fine. But often times people overeat when they let themselves get too hungry. Their insulin and blood sugars get wonky and it’s harder for your body to tell you that you are full.
I don’t cook 3 meals a day. I prep a week of overnight oats and then lunch is a sandwich and veggie or leftovers and dinner is 1 portion of protein, 1 portion of a starchy veg and then 2 portions veggies. If you are bloating or having reflux, you are overeating at those meals.
All meals, i was told, should contain fiber, protein and some carbs so your body keeps you full till your next meal. Of course if you have a health condition that changes this, you can, but for most humans it works.
Same old song “it doesn’t work for me, so it’s a scam and everyone else should abide to my new ideas”.
OP should reflect on her egocentrism.
No-one cares about your reflux, sorry.
3 meals a day comes from the industrial revolution. It’s simpler for factories to run an assembly line if people work on a pre determined schedule
Dude personal experience should never be used as a statement to decided on people’s health..
The reason why 3 or even 5 meals is necessary is about insulin regulation and endocrine system.
For me, I literally have to force myself to eat because first adhd and I forget to eat and second to control a couple of things with my endocrine system.. specially keep in control insulin resistance.
I am happy you found what works for you! But calling it a scam just because it doesn’t work for you… is dangerous and wrong.
Each person has nutritional needs that are different and also different accomodations depending of lifestyle.
A weird combination of a true unpopular opinion that is actually pretty factual.
You are correct that marketing has a huge effect on what we perceive as an ideal diet. The breakfast as “The Most Important Meal of the Day” was a slogan created by a dietician named Dr. Kellogg who invented Corn Flakes along with other breakfast items.
I currently do three meals a day because it works for my current career field, however in college I did intermittent fasting and absolutely loved it.
A healthy diet gets all required caloric needs and nutrients to the body. The timing doesn’t matter nearly as much for the average person.
I agree that forcing yourself to eat based on societal norms usually equals an unneeded surplus of calories.
wrong. entirely wrong. in fact, this thread should be deleted. i eat three meals a day because, unless i eat an unusually huge meal, i get hungry three times before i go to sleep.
So would you advocate for more or less meals? Coz I think 3 meals in a 15/16 hours day is just fine. Now the size of the meals is subjective
For a lot of us, 3 meals is far more reasonable than just eating whenever. Work schedules don’t really allow many of us to eat at just any time. So 3 meals is a good compromise.
I’m a big fan of “eat when you’re hungry.” Might eat twice a day, might eat 10 times a day, but I eat.
I believe breakfast is the biggest lie. You dont need a meal to start your day if you’re not in a heavily labor intensive job.
I love when people base all their universalities on very personal experiences.
Yet another personal preference extrapolated into an overblown conspiracy theory. You’re only right about one thing, you’re not a nutritionist.
There are more different nutritional models with various combinations of content and spacing than you can shake a stick at, the 3 squares a day happens to be the one that best fits the work/rest/play cycle that most households follow.
Unpopular and a little dramatically stated but you’re definitely not the first person (and some of the ARE qualified) that I’ve heard make an argument against three meals a day. Although they’re usually advocating for two meals rather than just continually eating throughout the day as that means your digestive system is activated for too much of the day, which also isn’t good for you.
Yup. The food and health industry both teach these stupid things all in the name of money. All you need is 1 meal a day, that’s the most healthiest for us as the body then will have more energy to repair snd detox the body instead of using all day into digestion.
Same with cancer and other illnesses. All comes from sugar and inflammation. People get cancer, and the doctors do chemo and what not without informing patients not to eat sugar as sugar feeds cancer cells, but nooo…If doctors/Government actually told people that fasting is beneficial and healthy aswell as anti aging, there’d be no money going to the government, doctors, dentists, dermatologists, nutritionists etc etc
Agreed there should be Morning Tea, First breakfast, Second breakfast, elevenses, Luncheon, Afternoon tea, Dinner, Supper.
Honestly I’ve never actually ate 3 meals throughout the day and I don’t know a lot of people who do unless they’re very specific about their food. I eat when I’m hungry sometimes full meals and sometimes just snacks. I might go an entire day with just one meal and I also might have 4 or 5 it’s entirely dependent on how much energy I spent and how much time I have
Lol Big Food™ is trying to convince us we need to eat multiple times a day.