Dinner is the most important meal in a day. We often hear how breakfast is important to keep you going for the day, but dinner equally adds to a healthy digestive system. Your dinner is important to keep you full and nourished throughout the night for a healthy metabolism and weight management. Several factors are important when it comes to dinner. Right from what you are eating to the time you are eating your meal. We all know how late-night binging and late night dinners can lead to weight gain and other digestive problems.
Do Not Skip Dinner
Our body burns calories throughout the day, even when you are sleeping. Adequate sleep is linked to a healthy diet pattern. Starving can have ill-effects of disturbed sleep patterns. One should work towards eating a healthy meal at night. Following are some of the factors for a healthy dinner:
- Reduce intake of carbs in your diet for dinner.
- Forget oil, use vegetable broth for soups and even cooking vegetables in it for desired consistency.
- Make good use of spices like turmeric, ginger and cinnamon as they help in burning the fat in the body.
- Cut on fat and cheese. The best form of fat to consume for dinner can be a drizzle of ghee or olive oil for flavour.
- Double your intake of fibre and whole grains in your diet
- Measure what you are eating
- Last, and the most important part is to eat your food 2-3 before your sleep timing
Also read: Understanding the Pranic Value in Food
Eat on Time
Meal timings should depend on the individual's schedule and lifestyle. Those who start their day early should plan their meals in such a way that their intake of food is appropriate for healthy weight management. One should plan their meal according to their sleep timings. It is always advisable that one should eat at least a minimum of 2-3 hours before hitting the sack. The reason behind this is that the food takes time to digest and directly sleeping just a few minutes after dinner can lead to accumulation of fat6 and digestion-related problems.
Following are some of the pointers to follow for a healthy metabolism and weight management:
- Plan your meal according to your hunger cycle. Eat only when you think you are hungry. It is essential to understand that if you are hungry, the body will store all the food as per calories. However, eating without hunger can lead to accumulation of fat in the body.
- Keep a check on what you are eating than stressing on timing. What you eat matters the most and one should aim to have a light dinner with all the necessary nutrient categories for a complete meal.
- Have dinner, which includes more of greasy food products, can add to the weight content in the body. Feeling sluggish and sleepy are some of the indicators that your meal last night could be more than what was needed.
- Even if you are in for a late night snack, ensure that it is protein-based. It can include dry fruits like almonds, yoghurt and cheese.
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