why do most people eat three meals a day?

Answer 1

The standard answer has been that your body needs nourishment spaced over the day to function properly. People who have studied the problem have always said that it’s important to start with a good breakfast.

There have even been some people who had the idea that kids who didn’t start with a good breakfast didn’t do as well in school as they would otherwise. However, there’s some dispute about that, even though I personally think it’s important to start with some fuel at the beginning of the day.

There’s another part of your question. Why eat only three meals a day? There have been lots of humans who didn’t eat three meals a day on a regular schedule. If you think about animals in the wild, they tend to eat when food is available and not on any schedule. And some farm animals, especially pigs, are given the choice of eating whenever they feel like it.

Eating three meals a day has become a custom. I noticed that people in the office where I work all go to lunch at noon. That is their custom, and they eat then, whether or not they are hungry. In Europe, most people tend to take their larger meal at noon and only a light supper at night. So how we divide up our meals depends a lot on custom.

Answer 2

I would suspect that this comes from the days where human beings were much more physically active and eating an amount that was proportional to the amount of energy being used. It would make sense to break this up in to meals with a roughly equal time period in between. It would make more sense than eating one or two large meals as this would less efficient as unnecessary weight would be carried around or sit unused while we sleep. Also there is research that suggests that digestion can produce certain chemical reactions in the brain that encourage sleep, hence why we feel sleepy after large meals.

Answer 3

That's just he way we're borned doing. Why, did you not eat 3 times a day? That's not healthy. What's even more healthy is to eat light 4 to 5 times a day. Better than 2 or 3 large meals per day.

Answer 4

I don't, I only eat one big meal a day and have 2 or 3 snacks in between. I can't eat anymore than that, I guess I have a small appetite.

Answer 5

Three meals had been the practice through centuries.But this is changing fast because of weight watchers.Light break fast,little heavy noon food and light supper is the order of the day.Since at night you sleep and energy consdumption is low ,night food should be light only.If at all you want to have good meals restrict it to noon only when energy requirement is more.

Answer 6

I eat 3 times a day because I am too lazy to eat 4 times, and if I ate 2 times, I would be too full after eating

Answer 7

Many people now eat 5 small meals but probs because breakfest to kick the mentalbolism, lunch to stop feeling hungry and dinner to stop feeling hungry.

Answer 8

This is mainly a British thing that has translated to America, for obvious reasons, and is all to do with culture and habit.

It has been scientifically demonstrated that one reasonable meal a day is more healthy and prolongs life. Our habits and simple greed prevent us from accepting this limitation on our 'right' to eat what and when we like.

Answer 9

well its the most convenient time to eat for most, especially if you're a bus driver or something. Passengers might object to someone driving with one hand and eating a cheese roll with the other!

Answer 10

Because eating every four/five hours is the optimal way to get your body going and be effective and efficient during the day!