CA How Often Should I Eat?

[Pumpkin-Spice-Vegan]

I think I eat every few hours or less. It feels like I eat all day. I’ve been vegetarian for a while, but now I’m vegan. I’m still a noob.

I was also awake all night the first night of going dairy-free. In agony. In the stomach. Is that normal?

I was just on the phone with someone who said I should eat like every 4 hours or more, and beans are too new in society (not what our ancestors ate). I’m groggy and almost forget where I’m going with this. I would have to blame my exam for that - not being vegan.

Any tips on how often to eat and what to eat would be appreciated

 

[Lou]

Three meals a day plus one or two snacks make the most sense to me.

By eating small meals frequently you keep your metabolism on an even keel. You minimize the ups and downs of sugar levels and therefore minimize the ups and downs of insulin. Your mood and energy levels stay more... level. Big meals definitely slow you down. both physically and mentally. so better to have smaller meals more frequently. The concept of snacking isn't bad. but it is the quality of the snacks. Fruits and veggies are good snacks. chips and cookies are bad snacks.

The author of the Fix diet recommends for a 2000 calorie diet you eat three 400 calorie meals and two 200 calorie snacks. I almost do that now without even thinking about it. Although my snacks are closer to 100 so I might add another snack to make up for it.

There is also the issue of nutrient absorption and utilization. For instance, there is a maximum for protein absorption and utilization (20 to 35 grams at a meal). You'll get more protein from five 20 grams of protein meals than from one 100 gram protein meal. This kind of thing is true for many of the micronutrients too. B12 is one of the best examples. I think the absorption rate for B12 is between one-third and one-half of the RDA. So even though a glass of soy milk might contain 100 or 150% of the RDA you will only absorb a fraction of that. So you need to drink two or three glasses of soy milk to meet your B12 requirement.

To be complete I need to add that after that first half micron of B12 absorption, the absorption rate drops from close to 100% to about 1%. That's why the vitamin company make B12 supplements that contain 1000x the RDA.

 

[shyvas]

I think I eat every few hours or less. It feels like I eat all day. I’ve been vegetarian for a while, but now I’m vegan. I’m still a noob.

I was also awake all night the first night of going dairy-free. In agony. In the stomach. Is that normal?

I was just on the phone with someone who said I should eat like every 4 hours or more, and beans are too new in society (not what our ancestors ate). I’m groggy and almost forget where I’m going with this. I would have to blame my exam for that - not being vegan.

Any tips on how often to eat and what to eat would be appreciated

If you wake up in the middle of the night with hunger pangs, it means you haven't eaten enough during the day.

 

[fakei]

I think I eat every few hours or less. It feels like I eat all day. I’ve been vegetarian for a while, but now I’m vegan. I’m still a noob.

I was also awake all night the first night of going dairy-free. In agony. In the stomach. Is that normal?

I was just on the phone with someone who said I should eat like every 4 hours or more, and beans are too new in society (not what our ancestors ate). I’m groggy and almost forget where I’m going with this. I would have to blame my exam for that - not being vegan.

Any tips on how often to eat and what to eat would be appreciated

I remember having similar symptoms back in the days. There are changes in the body when a person moves from a heavy protein low fiber diet to a high fiber diet without animal foods. The impression I had was that my stomach was used to a much greater effort of digestion with dairy that was no longer there. Sometimes it helps to have some bananas to fill the stomach at night or other food depending also on the weather..

There are people who advocate eating two times a day only and a hearty meal at each and from personal experience this is better when a person is eating whole grains and beans. But since it depends on the amount of foods people can consume maybe 3 times is better for some. Anyway these two were probably the standard number of meals in traditional societies.

About beans it depends on your background. Around here beans are an important part of traditional cuisine, I was raised eating beans everywhere and they were much more important when the majority of people could not afford meat. But other legumes like lentils are more easy to cook and more light to digestion so they may be a good alternative. To be honest I eat lentils every day.

 

[fakei]

There is also the issue of nutrient absorption and utilization. For instance, there is a maximum for protein absorption and utilization (20 to 35 grams at a meal). You'll get more protein from five 20 grams of protein meals than from one 100 gram protein meal. This kind of thing is true for many of the micronutrients too. B12 is one of the best examples. I think the absorption rate for B12 is between one-third and one-half of the RDA. So even though a glass of soy milk might contain 100 or 150% of the RDA you will only absorb a fraction of that. So you need to drink two or three glasses of soy milk to meet your B12 requirement.

I'm under the impression this is a disputed theory.

 

[Lou]

I'm under the impression this is a disputed theory.

which? I can provide references,
the protein thing is new and the supplement guys have been "disputing" it.

 

[fakei]

which? I can provide references,
the protein thing is new and the supplement guys have been "disputing" it.

Don't know whose right, and some passages give the impression this only applies to body-builders, but there are a great deal of people contesting it:

How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution

How Much Protein Can You Absorb In One Meal? (20g? 30g? 100g?)

Need to watch doctor Milton Mills lecture on protein again maybe he mentions it.

 

[Pumpkin-Spice-Vegan]

I remember having similar symptoms back in the days. There are changes in the body when a person moves from a heavy protein low fiber diet to a high fiber diet without animal foods. The impression I had was that my stomach was used to a much greater effort of digestion with dairy that was no longer there. Sometimes it helps to have some bananas to fill the stomach at night or other food depending also on the weather..

There are people who advocate eating two times a day only and a hearty meal at each and from personal experience this is better when a person is eating whole grains and beans. But since it depends on the amount of foods people can consume maybe 3 times is better for some. Anyway these two were probably the standard number of meals in traditional societies.

About beans it depends on your background. Around here beans are an important part of traditional cuisine, I was raised eating beans everywhere and they were much more important when the majority of people could not afford meat. But other legumes like lentils are more easy to cook and more light to digestion so they may be a good alternative. To be honest I eat lentils every day.

I hope you don’t mind my asking, but are you Latino? Because they are very common in Latino cusine, which I happen to really like. This woman on the phone was also saying wheat is a new thing, but it’s actually the reason why the cradle of civilization in Mesopotamia was able to settle down in one place (rather than nomadic lifestyle).

I’ll take your advice on the banana. I’m Canadian but thank whoever is responsible for whatever the North American trade agreement is now. I guess that’s Donald Trump and AMLO really. Not to get too political but oh my god, it can be the dead of winter and I get fruit from Mexico!

 

[fakei]

I hope you don’t mind my asking, but are you Latino? Because they are very common in Latino cusine, which I happen to really like. This woman on the phone was also saying wheat is a new thing, but it’s actually the reason why the cradle of civilization in Mesopotamia was able to settle down in one place (rather than nomadic lifestyle).

I’ll take your advice on the banana. I’m Canadian but thank whoever is responsible for whatever the North American trade agreement is now. I guess that’s Donald Trump and AMLO really. Not to get too political but oh my god, it can be the dead of winter and I get fruit from Mexico!

No problem. Yes we speak a Latin language, but while beans are popular in Portugal and Spain and South and Central America, I'm not sure they are popular in other Latin speaking countries like Italy or France.
It seems humans are pretty adapted to starches, not sure there has been a civilization that didn't grow them and it seems they were around since pre historic times. Ancient Oat Discovery May Poke More Holes in Paleo Diet

 

[Pumpkin-Spice-Vegan]

No problem. Yes we speak a Latin language, but while beans are popular in Portugal and Spain and South and Central America, I'm not sure they are popular in other Latin speaking countries like Italy or France.
It seems humans are pretty adapted to starches, not sure there has been a civilization that didn't grow them and it seems they were around since pre historic times. Ancient Oat Discovery May Poke More Holes in Paleo Diet

I’m Italian-Canadian. There are way less beans in Italian food, from what I gather, but there are many beans in minestrone. Be careful with packaged minestrone, though, since it usually has parmesan. But there’s a youtuber who is like in her 70s, Italian, makes great videos. Buon-A-Pettiti. One of them is Minestrone from scratch.

 

[fakei]

I’m Italian-Canadian. There are way less beans in Italian food, from what I gather, but there are many beans in minestrone. Be careful with packaged minestrone, though, since it usually has parmesan. But there’s a youtuber who is like in her 70s, Italian, makes great videos. Buon-A-Pettiti. One of them is Minestrone from scratch.

Thank you, found the video and looks great. Soup is a great way to eat beans and grinded with a magic-wand they become very easy to digest.

 

[Lou]

Don't know whose right, and some passages give the impression this only applies to body-builders, but there are a great deal of people contesting it:

How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution

How Much Protein Can You Absorb In One Meal? (20g? 30g? 100g?)

Need to watch doctor Milton Mills lecture on protein again maybe he mentions it.

I only skimmed the article (its too dense for now). but i watched the video. and the guy is absolutely right about the other variables.

and it is the muscle builders and the makers of protein supplements who are "disputing" the numbers. and yes they do have a point. Also, notice I did use the words "absorption and utilization" in my claim.

keep in mind that there is no place other than inside the cells and to some extent the bloodstream for the body to store amino acids ( the body has good places to store glucose and fat.) So once a cell is "full" of amino acids any additional amino acids get converted to nitrogen compounds and get eliminated from the body. So unless you are a bodybuilder or the kind of athlete that is constantly repairing and replacing muscle tissue there is only so much protein your body can absorb and utilize. I think almost all of the clinical work puts it at 5 - 6 g/hour. Which turns out to be about 20 to 35 g per meal.

 

[fakei]

I only skimmed the article (its too dense for now). but i watched the video. and the guy is absolutely right about the other variables.

and it is the muscle builders and the makers of protein supplements who are "disputing" the numbers. and yes they do have a point. Also, notice I did use the words "absorption and utilization" in my claim.

keep in mind that there is no place other than inside the cells and to some extent the bloodstream for the body to store amino acids ( the body has good places to store glucose and fat.) So once a cell is "full" of amino acids any additional amino acids get converted to nitrogen compounds and get eliminated from the body. So unless you are a bodybuilder or the kind of athlete that is constantly repairing and replacing muscle tissue there is only so much protein your body can absorb and utilize. I think almost all of the clinical work puts it at 5 - 6 g/hour. Which turns out to be about 20 to 35 g per meal.

Thanks for the explanation, it is worth taking in consideration. Always thought that what counted was the total amount of protein per day and questioned this theory when you mentioned it because it chalenges some common notions and opinions, not necessarily that they are valid to start with or the people who voice them experts. A two day meal might already place a person on a danger zone and an OMAD diet would probably leave the person below theRDA of protein.

 

[thinman]

My philosophy is listen to your body, when I worked doing manual labour I ate a lot and prepped my food for the day, eating every 2 hours. Now I've been retired for 3 years and now do periodized training, Yoga, Tai Chi Chuan, calisthenics and weights. When doing weights I tend to eat more, with Yoga much less and with a morning class will not eat till after. I've decided on being flexitarian, so do drink some dairy, eggs and meat/fish. I don't eat mass quantities.

 

[RBnobulls#it]

I try to it 2 full meals and I have peanuts as snack in between.

I've been having a hard time sleeping too, by the way.

 

[fakei]

I try to it 2 full meals and I have peanuts as snack in between.

I've been having a hard time sleeping too, by the way.

What do you think is causing it?