Breakfasts and dinners: what to eat to eat a healthy diet
Practical and very simple tips to follow a balanced diet, varied and beneficial to health
A healthy and balanced diet is what allows the body to function optimally. To achieve this, it is essential that it be based on foods that enhance the proper functioning of the body and avoid food-related diseases, such as obesity or cardiovascular problems. For this reason, experts recommend that the diet be part of a healthy lifestyle, be rich in foods of plant origin and fiber and, on the contrary, be low in fat of animal origin, in sweets and very caloric products. This article reviews the main characteristics of a healthy diet and presents concrete suggestions for breakfast and dinner.
What should a healthy diet contain?
For the diet to be balanced, it must contain at least two servings of vegetables daily, one for lunch and one for dinner; 2 to 3 pieces or portions of fruit per day; 2 to 3 servings of protein foods per day (meat, fish and eggs, preferably low-fat), cereals or starches rich in fiber, such as pasta, rice or whole wheat bread or legumes; and avoid foods like sugar, sweets like sugar-rich jams, sugary drinks, pastries and industrial pastries and pre-cooked foods.
Another aspect recommended by experts is to distribute food intake throughout the day and, therefore, make 5-6 meals a day: breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, snack, dinner and snack after dinner. This favors the self-control of intake and anxiety and also distributes the consumption of calories throughout the day.
Can skipping meals or not have dinner help you lose weight?
There is no study that shows that skipping any food can help you lose weight. Although the basis of any low-calorie diet for body weight control is to reduce caloric intake, it is not recommended to skip meals to get it. Experts recommend not skipping meals and distribute the intake well throughout the day, as this can help us control hunger and anxiety.
Skipping meals may help us to get hungry before the next and, therefore, to end up biting and eating some food that is not recommended. For example, not having dinner can make us very hungry the next morning or not having a snack can make us hungry before dinner; and, therefore, we will end up biting something before dinner or having breakfast much more than usual the next morning.
Does eating only fruit or cereals with milk help you lose weight?
Dinner is the last meal of the day and should not be a copious and abundant meal, especially if we go to bed immediately after it. The caloric control of dinner is important if we want to lose weight. However, replacing dinner with a specific food - such as fruit or milk with cereals - can contribute to the imbalance of the diet and even to an excessive contribution of calories in it.
To get an idea: a bowl of fruit with a banana, 200 g of grapes and two peritas can contain about 400 kcal, the same as a green salad with a hard-boiled egg. The same can happen if we substitute dinner for a bowl of cereal milk. If we control the quantities well, a cup of semi-skimmed milk with 30 g of cereals contributes about 200 kcal, but if we replace the cup with a large bowl, the caloric intake can be around 400-500 kcal; so that we will be ingesting the same, or even more, than if we were making a balanced dinner.
In addition, replacing the balanced dinner with these foods can reduce the intake of vegetables and fruits (in the case of cereals) and, therefore, the consumption of dietary fiber, which could increase the risk of constipation. It can also cause a reduction in protein intake, a very important fact in patients at risk of malnutrition or in people with decreased muscle mass. Thus, skipping meals or unbalancing the diet does not help you lose weight or eat a healthier diet.
Breakfasts and dinners: healthy suggestions
Between breakfast and mid-morning you should consume a dairy (milk, yogurt or cheese) some starchy food (bread, toast or cereals), accompanied - or not - by some protein food, and a fruit. For example:
Breakfast: coffee with semi-skimmed milk and mini sandwich. Mid-morning: fruit salad. In detail: mini sandwich of cooked ham accompanied by coffee with milk for breakfast and pear and grape salad at mid-morning.
Breakfast: milk tea with two kiwis. Mid-morning: snack with skimmed liquid yogurt. In detail: milk tea accompanied by two kiwis at breakfast and snack
