Is when you eat more important than what you eat?

They call it 'social jetlag'

That is, many of us living by 'social clocks'

Rather than our internal body clocks.

Essentially, a recent review from Kings College London suggests we're all a bit out of control.

Driven by the demands of shift work, crying babies and overly stressful, demanding lifestyles.

^^^ Everyone wants a piece of you, right?

And with all of this, our eating habits have become more and more irregular.

I'm a nutritionist....

Yet, I don't always have breakfast

^^^ Yep, I sometimes skip 'the most important meal of the day, too' and I'm here to tell the story.

I mean, it totally depends on what I have planned for the day, my goals and lifestyle.

BUT...

Some of the current research suggests that irregular eating increases your risk of:

* Type 2 diabetes

* High blood pressure

* Putting on weight

and you can see why...

Many systems in your body that control your appetite, digestion and how you handle sugar and fat appear to follow your circadian rhythm.

^^^ That is, the light / dark cycle.

And this is backed up with shift work related to increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease!

But anyway, should you eat little and often?

You hear this message everywhere:

'Eat little and often''

And this CAN work if it stops you feeling out of control in-between meals.

But it can also backfire...

You see, some of us have a pretty poor ability to stop eating once we start.

^^^ me included, once I pop I can't stop (even when eating grapes, let alone Pringles)

So could larger, more infrequent meals be better suited for you?

Well, skipping breakfast

AKA

Fasting

AKA

Eating infrequently

Has also shown to have benefits in how your body handles sugar.

In fact, a guy I recently worked with used to skip breakfast everyday (was never a breakfast person and felt he had to force it down).

He lost 32 kg and put his Type 2 diabetes into remission!

^^^ this gets me super excited every time I think about it!!!

But again...

If skipping breakfast means you then make poorer food choices...

And at 3:23pm (the average time we need a cake and a coffee as a pick me up)...

You feel out of control, gauge, and are then riddled with guilt...

Then skipping meals may not work for you.

And on the topic of cake.

We shouldn't ignore your environment and WHO you are eating with.

I mean, if you're in a workplace where cake is brought in because it's:

1) Jane's birthday so you need to celebrate

2) Monday so you need to commiserate

3) Friday so you need to celebrate

You're probably more likely to be influenced by others to make poorer food choices.

And it's just like when you're eating:

* In front of the TV

* Whilst driving

* With someone who generally eats more than you

^^^ often the female will feel they should eat the same as the male at a meal...forgetting that relatively, the male needs more food to survive in general

You tend to eat MORE.

And I'm not done yet...

Here in the UK, we're more likely grab a takeaway, ready meal or pop to a convenience store than most of our European friends

^^^ they're still our friends, right?

We snack more than we ever have done.

Yet, compare this to the the Mediterranean diet <<< a diet linked with longer, healthy lives

Lunch appears to be 'the most important meal of the day'

In that they tend to have larger lunches.

But the key thing here:

* They snack less.

* They are more likely to eat together with friends and family

^^^ Which will probably make the experience more pleasurable (without having to go for seconds)