Dinner Habits And Their Effect On Human Health And Routine

“Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food” ― Hippocrates

Wisely said, good food choices are a good investment. In the social media generation, a whole lot of us love to munch junk for the three crucial meals of our day. While some go on a junk food stroll, others go about skipping their meals altogether for dieting or as a consequence of work pressure.

But all this - “Being the new cool” or negligence game takes a toll on our health and ultimately ends up flawing your routines.

Gone are the days when families used to sit together to have meals or dinner, to say the least. In the fast-paced work environment: Busy schedules and numerous deadlines to meet, a family dinner is a rare sight and unknowingly and unwillingly it is affecting our mental as well as physical health for the negative.

Here’s a guide to upgrading your dinner habits for a healthier lifestyle.

Dining DO’S and DON’Ts And Their Effect On Human Health And Routine

#1. No matter how uptight your schedule is, always spare some time to have dinner with your family. In the short run this might not seem something that makes a lot of difference, but in the long run, the impact is crystal clear. A family that dines together, stays together. Moreover, it keeps the children attached to their roots and inculcates love in them for everyone around. Small habits like these give a boost to their emotional quotient.

#2. You should not have dinner at your work desk. Guilty of doing it a number of times? Well, do not repeat it. Work desks are sacred and creative places and to spill your food at such a place doesn’t seem like a very good idea. Not only our work desks, but our body demands some rest too. Make your dinner and your body a priority and move meters away from your desk so you can eat in solace and can give your drained out body its much-needed dose of rest.

#3. It is dinner time. You are all set to have your first bite and your phone rings. You get all jumpy seeing your friend’s call and decide to multitask. Sounds like a plan? Right. A bad one in my opinion. Avoid multitasking while eating, because in doing so you often end up eating a little too much or oh so little and your stomach has to pull an all-nighter to curse you for your deed and not to forget the multiple germs that make love to your hands while you are operating your cell phones and you eat your favorite foods right after with hands full of germs.

#4. In the competitive rush of our modern life, how often do we plan our day and give what we are going to have for dinner a thought? Just back from office and exasperated enough to make anything nutritious?  Let Maggi be your life savior or why not give the newly opened restaurant in our vicinity a chance. Let’s order dinner. But… until when? Junk food is delectable and easy to prepare and thus, hard to resist, but in the long run, it adversely affects our body. Decreased concentration and memory, heart diseases, tiredness, and fatigue are all the sour fruits of unhealthy dinner habits.

"Too tired to play with your child or he himself does not want to play games that require movement? Let’s all applaud our dining habits."

#5. A friend of yours had a gossip to tell and you left your dinner waiting for you quietly on the plate? Bad news. Mr. dinner waited and waited but has slowly been captured by enemies and the trouble is there’s not just one but many of them. After sitting for long hours, the food enters a ‘ Not so loved zone’ where the bacteria multiply and give their best shot to make you sick and you end up taking sick leaves and spend days glued to your bed.

#6. When and how much to eat?  Since ages it has been preached- “Have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar”. But how many of us sincerely follow it or for that matter have ever followed it. More than half of the population does it the other way round and then wonders what went wrong? Despite of all the fitness classes, how come they have not shed those extra pounds or how come they are in the “NOT SO FIT” zone?

A gentle suggestion- HAVE LIGHT DINNER AND NEVER SKIP YOUR MEALS.

#7. Overtly busy day? Did not eat even a bit? Ravenous? Binge eating game on. Binge eating is one of the worst nightmares that you can give to your body. Not only can it cause your stomach to be bloated, but can result in lots of unwanted extra pounds too.

#8. Dinner time – Lazy time. Let’s cook White rice. Health risk alert all the way. Eating rice at night spikes the blood glucose level and that glucose eventually turns to fat. You don’t want that right? Also, always avoid plain carbs at night.

#9. Amidst the gadget love and healthy love, how many times have we preferred dinner over extra hours of video gaming? Almost never I guess. If you do this too, it’s better to stop. Eating right before bed is the birth house of multiple problems like Acid reflux, indigestion and a damage to the esophagus tissues. You can keep 2 hours gap between your dinner and bedtime to have a comfortable sleep and a relaxed stomach.

#10. Another midnight craving? Confused about what to munch to keep both your stomach and heart happy? Here’s a guide: Eat fruits such as banana, drink chamomile tea or have a bowl of low sugar cereal with low-fat milk. No matter how tempting the midnight coffee, cookies, soda, a sip of alcohol or a lip-smacking chocolate cake sounds. You should never ever choose them, especially before bedtime.

Food is the fuel for the body. Make sure to not provide your body with the wrong kind. Prevention is undoubtedly better than cure. Switching to healthy dinner habits should be no. 1 on your priority list to give your mind, body, and heart the pampering and attention they deserve.  Prolong your lifespan and reduce the risk of humongous medical problems with just one simple step.

SWITCH. SWITCH. SWITCH- TO HEALTHY DINNER HABITS.

HEALTHY LIVING, SOUND THINKING.