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Originally posted by Hawks

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Originally posted by chaloobi
Further, perhaps they're right about breakfast, or at least about having something to eat right away in the morning. But what about lunch & dinner? Do we need these as 3 distinct, descreet meals? Why do that? Why not have a more or less continuous supply of healthy snack food and never actually eating a set of big meals? Or why not just ONE big meal - dinner say - and spend the earlier part of the day snacking lightly?

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I can see one reason why you would not want to snack too much, namely the impact this would have on your teeth.

As for the impact on cognition, I have after a cursory glance through the literature (this was a 5 minute job, btw) found nothing in particular discussing this in adults. All I can offer is something anecdotal in the form of a family of friends who are muslims. During Ramadan, they only eat after eight pm (this is rather flexible as they often get up in the middle of the night to have some snacks). I'm not sure how this affects their mental abilities, but they don't look too fancy after a few days of this - mainly appearing a "bit" lethargic. But then I suppose that getting up in the middle of the night can do that to you as well. Was this of any value? Probably not. Just rambling while waiting for one of my gels to set.

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Why do we need three meals?

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.

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Three Meals a Day
The Heavenly King sat on his throne in the sky watch all the men in China work hard each day. He felt the hardship the men when through as they tried to make ends meet. He felt the men's pain when they toiled in the fields to gather food for their families. There was so little food that everybody in China ate only once a day.

With a heavy heart, the Heavenly King summoned the Great Bull Star from the corner of the constellation. "Great Bull, I want you to go down to earth to bring a message to the men. Tell them that if they work hard each day, their hard work will be rewarded with enough food for eating three meals a day. They must understand not to give up and good things will arrive in due time." The Great Bull Star transformed himself into the form of a bull and went to earth.

When Great Bull arrived on earth, he gathered all the men and leaders together to share the message from the Heavenly King, but he didn't get it just right. All he said was, "Everyone can eat three meals a day. " All the men in China were happy and relieved to know that the Heavenly King will give them food and they won't have to work anymore. They had a grand party for the Great Bull which lasted three days.

Upon returning to Heaven, the Great Bull went directly to the Heavenly King's throne. "I did what you told me to." The Great Bull was so proud of himself because believed he completed the task the Heavenly King had given him.

BOCK! A stick flew across the room and hit Bull's head. Bull took cover and looked at the Heavenly King. "Sire, why did you throw the stick at me?"

The Heavenly King was disappointed. "Bull, you gave the men only half my message. They don't realize that they need to work hard in order for them to eat three meals a day. They think I will give them the food. So Bull, you will return to earth to

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Originally posted by chaloobi
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.

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Originally posted by Hawks

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Originally posted by chaloobi
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.

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Well, the availability of food (or rather lack thereof) can make it impossible to eat to any schedule. Given the choice, maybe these animals would. But then I wouldn't draw too many conclusions based on how animals other than humans eat. Look into a field of sheep and cows and you will see that they eat more or less from sunrise to sunset. Give a lion the choice and it would eat more often than it would tend to do in the wild (because of availability) which often leads to intestinal infections and death (lions are designed to eat large meals rarely).

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