18 Ways Smart Meal Timings Can Improve Overall Health

9. Meal timing may help you to concentrate more Keep your brain in tip-top condition by timing your meals and keeping them small. Include small snacks… Simi - October 5, 2018

9. Meal timing may help you to concentrate more

Keep your brain in tip-top condition by timing your meals and keeping them small. Include small snacks between meals. Focus on healthy eating.

Bingeing on chocolate and high-sugar foods will not help your concentration at all. They give you a sugar rush. For a short period, you’ll feel boosted and able to concentrate. But it won’t last long. Before you know it, the sugar high is over, and you come down from it. This can leave you feeling sluggish and lethargic with your concentration and memory at an all-time low.

Include food rich in zinc and iron, as these compounds improve memory and concentration. They are found in lean red meat, fish, shellfish and chicken. You also get them from whole-grain bread and breakfast cereals.

Omega-3 fats are known as brain food. Tuna, salmon and prawns are rich in omega-3 fats. Eating smaller meals on a regular basis keeps your brain fed with these essential nutrients to keep you functioning at peak levels. If you wait too long between meals, you’ll go through periods in the hours leading up to meals where your concentration will lapse.

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8. Meal timing may help your immune system

Your immune system defends your body against attacks from germs, bacteria, and viruses. It also eliminates free radical cells in your body which can cause diseases such as cancer. Such an important system needs to be augmented and nourished so that it can work productively and keep your body safe.

Many of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals we absorb during eating are just what our immune system needs. But when you eat big meals, your digestive system eliminates many of them before your body even gets to absorb them.

Eating smaller meals at shorter intervals allows your body to absorb all the compounds it needs to use to strengthen your immune system. When planning your meals, take into consideration foods that boost your immune system. They include garlic, mushrooms, nuts, berries, fish and yogurt.

You can also get immune boosters from yellow, red and orange fruits and vegetables. Citrus fruits are rich in Vitamin C, which is good for your immune system. The meat, dairy products and eggs you eat contain high concentrations of B Vitamins, which are essential for a good immune system.

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7. Meal timing may help you cope with stress

Stress is an inevitable part of our daily lives. There are different types of stress you can experience. Positive stress is what motivates you to push yourself harder to achieve a goal. Negative stress is brought on by work, relationships and home circumstances. It can be debilitating and has an adverse effect on your body.

You might think stress is an emotional condition, but it manifests itself through the body and its functioning. The best thing you can do for your body during a stressful time is to make sure you eat sensibly. When under stress, people tend to skip meals or binge on comfort food, usually carbohydrates. This is the worst thing you can do for your body.

The minute your body experiences stress, it produces the hormone cortisol. This is referred to as the stress hormone. Prolonged stress can cause declining levels of cortisol. If you eat smaller meals at more regular intervals, you can feed your body the nutrients it needs to help you focus and concentrate on dealing with the situation.

You can process and manage your stress without relying on cortisol to help you. If you’re experiencing a prolonged stress episode, it’s best to consult your doctor.

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6. Meal timing may reduce your risk of dementia

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on the rise. They are devastating conditions that affect the quality of life of the sufferer and his/her loved ones. It has begun to emerge in recent research that there are many aspects of your diet and lifestyle that you can adapt to avoid developing these conditions. They may only delay the onset, or they may lessen the severity of symptoms.

The foods that you should include in your diet are foods that are rich in vitamins C and E. Flavonoids are antioxidants found in a variety of fruits and vegetables. Curried foods are essential as they have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-amyloid properties.

The latter is a compound that prevents amyloid proteins from grouping together and forming plaque. Include folate in your diet from dark, leafy greens. Folate helps to regulate homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an amino acid that can negatively affect brain function.

Red wine is full of antioxidants, especially resveratrol. It is suitable for your brain and body and helps in the fight against free radicals. Keeping meal times regular and including foods from all the nutrient groups allows you to feed your body a cocktail of foods that will actively help you avoid dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

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5. Meal timing may lower levels of inflammation

Inflammation can happen anywhere in the body. From your veins and arteries to your skin, you can suffer from inflammation. Your brain and organs can also become inflamed. Swelling and warmth characterize inflammation.

Inflammation is a sign that your immune system is fighting off some foreign invader. The immune system’s white blood cells are working to combat an infection. There is increased blood flow to the area which explains the redness and added warmth in the inflamed area. The extra fluid in the area causes swelling.

Meal timing is essential when you are battling inflammation. You need to give your immune system a boost to help it ward off the attacker.

Smaller meals eaten more frequently tend to supply the most nutrients to the body. This allows the body to absorb all the vitamins and minerals you have ingested and then enable them to bolster the immune system. You should immediately increase your intake of fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins A, B, C and E, as they are great immune boosters.

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4. Meal timing may help your body detox

The body eliminates liquid waste from the body as urine or perspiration after the liver and kidneys process it. Food waste is processed and removed via the digestive system as feces. It is essential that your organs are given enough time to process waste and eliminate it.

When you eat big meals, there is a deluge of waste and toxins imposed on your organs. They may struggle to process the waste. If the kidneys cannot dispose of all the liquid waste, it goes into the bloodstream. The toxins in the blood are then carried far and wide across the body.

Smaller meals allow the organs in your body to process and dispose of waste correctly. There won’t be a build-up of toxins in your system. Your body can detox itself without the need for intervention.

Keeping your system clear of toxins is essential for your overall health and well-being. Most noticeably, it improves the health of your skin. When you get rid of a build-up of toxins, you’ll find yourself feeling better in general and far more energetic.

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3. Meal timing may help your digestive system

The digestive system is very important. Its health and well-being can have far-reaching ramifications for the rest of your body. From the time food enters your mouth until the time it leaves the body as excrement, your digestive system is hard at work.

In the stomach, acids are released to break the food down. It then travels through the intestines where the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals get absorbed for use all over the body.

If your digestive system is not working correctly, you will be prone to symptoms such as ulcers, diarrhea or constipation. Certain foods may make your situation worse. For instance, if you eat acidic food and you have an ulcer, it will be excruciating.

The digestive system works best when you are eating a balanced diet consisting of all the food groups. It is also preferable not to overwhelm it with lots of food only once or twice a day. Your digestive system is not overloaded if you have set, regular meal times throughout the day. Smaller meals give your digestive system a chance to operate at its best potential.

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2. Meal timing may get you the most out of your food

The food we eat is full of nourishing nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Well, the healthy food is anyway! Our bodies process, store and use these compounds for a variety of reasons. They promote general health and are the reason we have energy and vitality. They play a part in keeping all our organs working optimally and keep our immune system fighting off the bad guys.

Smaller meals allow for the highest absorption rate of food. If you eat at regular times, your body is programmed to absorb nutrients from the food and put them to use.

When you eat a few big meals in a day, or you do not eat regularly, your body doesn’t get to absorb all the nutrients. Before it can do so, they’re being expelled together with the other waste.

Think of it like driving your car with a leaky gas tank. Instead of all the gas going to pump the engine and keep your car moving, a lot of it gets spilled on the road. It’s a waste of a tank of gas. Your body is the same. The nutritious foods you eat do not get adequately utilized if you don’t eat them in small, regular portions.

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1. Meal timing may help your muscles recover

A strenuous workout can leave you stiff and sore. This is a sign of microscopic damage to the muscle that was incurred during the heavy exertion. The muscles heal themselves, and the stiffness and pain go away. If they don’t, it’s a sign that you might have a more serious muscle injury.

An essential food group for the healing of sore muscles is protein. That’s why it is advised that you consume protein before and after a workout. When you combine these two small meals into one that you have either before or after your workout, the effect won’t be the same.

If you only eat before, you’re liable not to be as energetic as you should be as you’re too full. And if you decide to work out on an empty stomach and eat afterward, good luck. You’ll be lightheaded and dizzy before you’re halfway through your session.

You should also include some carbohydrates in your post-workout meal to give you energy for the remainder of the day. Time your meals to coincide with your workouts and try to keep a regular schedule so your body can get into a meal-exercise rhythm.

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