In Between Meals???

[whyhellochello]

i just read a raw book, that said its better if you dont have snacks in between meals..because it makes your digestive system work around the clock..what do you guys think?? is it better not too.?

[Revvell]

My whole day is a meal. I eat when I'm hungry and seem to be doing o.k.


Revvell

[lily]

I eat when I'm hungry. I find it varies: sometimes I go for hours without anything, other times I feel like nibbling a lot, but I reckon as long as I keep to healthy raw foods, that's fine, and it seems to work well.

lily

[hibisanpo]

My whole day is a meal.

Revvell

heh. i like that...

[DavidZaneMason]

It varies. Some people...like myself often graze....eating one thing....then waiting an hour or two...and eating something else....you know? It's all about what works for you.

-David Z. Mason

[lavendarJ]

Ditto to what everyone else has said so far...

You have to really be in tune with how your body digest foods - how much time it takes; I think it is important to give the body enough time to breakdown certain foods before adding more. I have found that eating every 3/4 hours works great for me...I also am not hungry when I eat every few hours....

[chilove]

Hello there,

Eat when you are hungry and you will do great!

Blessings,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[sport]

As much as I would like to, I do not agree with the above posts.
Each part of your digestive system has a different function and takes different things from the food. When you eat, the food moves down your digestive system and needs to spend a certain amount of time in each place if you want to get the most from it.
When you next eat it is a signal to everything else to move down another stage. If you eat too soon, then each stage will not have a chance to do it's job properly.
If you eat enough at a meal then there should be no need to eat between meals. If you need to eat between meals then it obviously means that you are not making your meals big enough.

[GoingtoRAW]

Ditto to those who eat when they are hungry. Some days I eat all day and some days I barely eat at all and things work well for me that way. It varies from day to day. I have read the "food combining" rules of raw but for now I am just trying to focus on being raw. One of the reasons I like eating raw is because I thought I wouldn't have to follow a bunch of rules - like on a SAD diet. If I had to follow a bunch of rules that would not be good for me. I want this to be easy:rolleyes:

[trinity082482]

I've heard that you shouldn't drink liquids with any meal because it makes it harder for your stomach to digest foods.

[Dimond]

There's a reason why eating 4-6 small meals helps you lose weight versus eating 3 big meals. It's definitely healthier to eat more often for that reason, among others. It takes much more work for your body to digest big meals, than small meals. There's tons of research on this. Health issues such as cholesterol, diabetes & others are helped by eating more often.

Great explanation: By eating smaller portions of food more often you will feel less hungry in between meals & not deprived. When people only eat, 2-3 large meals per day, their bodies go into a starvation mode & try to hold on to calories. By eating every three to four hours you keep your body from storing as many calories (as fat) because your body has a steady supply of food to use for energy. Think of your metabolism as a wood burning fire. If you don’t stoke the fire and add wood at regular intervals, it goes out. The same is true with your body: a steady intake of nutritious fuel at regular intervals keeps your metabolism steady & elevated, your blood sugar stable, & your body operating at maximum efficiency.


http://tinyurl.com/2mvyqb (scroll up to beginning page)
http://tinyurl.com/3bnznf

[Eva]

If the 4-6 meals are small, or if the 2-3 meals are large... as long as you are not eating "to eat" ie snacking when your body doesn't want or need food... it works. For example, if I have 3-4 clementines for breakfast, it will only take a couple hours (or less) before I'm hungry and it's finished doing the major work of digestion.

If I have an avocado smoothie, however, with plenty of soaked almonds, greens like spinach or kale or whatever and some agave too... well, it will usually take me 3-5 hours before I get the next true hunger signal from my body. Part of that is that my body needs longer to digest these items, and part of that is the number of calories.

Either way, if I just wait until my stomach says "Hey gimme more food!" with the hunger pang or a rumble or whatever... then I'm giving the digestive system a chance to work through the previous meal. That works with 4-6 meals, or less... it depends on the meals and how quickly my digestive system works.

[sport]

I try to keep my eating to 4 times a day (I did say try) because I believe that it is best.
Eating between meals is not something that I would recommend.
I agree that there is a strong possibility that eating more often is better for loosing weight but it is not best for getting the most nutrients from your food and I eat to nourish my body.