As of: February 14, 2024, 6:30 p.m
By: Sarah Isele
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When everyday life is stressful, lunch is often skipped.
How healthy is it to eat lunch anyway?
And what should you eat for lunch?
From an early age we learn that we should eat three meals a day.
These consist of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
After breakfast, lunch is considered particularly important because it provides the necessary energy for the second half of the day.
But what is the healthiest lunch?
How the second meal of the day gives you the energy you really need:
Is lunch really healthy?
Skip lunch or eat something healthy instead?
That is the question.
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In stressful everyday life when it comes to getting work done, rushing from one appointment to another or picking up the children from school or kindergarten, lunch is often forgotten.
From a nutritional perspective, however, so-called “meal skipping” is not a good idea.
Experts agree that skipping a meal is unhealthy.
A common consequence of “meal skipping” can be eating even more and uncontrollably afterwards.
According to experts, people who “meal skip” have, on average, a shorter life expectancy than people who eat three meals a day.
Lunch makes a significant contribution to covering your daily nutrient requirements and therefore provides enough energy for learning, playing, running around or working, writes
Heidelberg24.de
.
What should you eat for lunch?
According to the German Nutrition Society (DEG), lunch should be planned four to six hours after breakfast.
Since you can't replenish your energy, there's no point in skipping lunch and then having a more lavish dinner with the family in the evening.
Lunch primarily includes liquid, but all nutrient areas should also be covered.
Basically, what applies to healthy eating also applies: lunch should contain everything.
So if you mentally divide your meal into six parts, then it should consist of three parts carbohydrates, two parts vegetables and one part protein.
The ideal ones are:
potatoes
Brown rice
Whole wheat pasta
Vegetables
Meat fish
Lentils/legumes
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What is the healthiest thing for lunch?
Following this list, a healthy lunch would ideally consist of a home-cooked meal containing carbohydrate-rich potatoes, rice or pasta, plus a protein side dish and lots of vegetables.
The protein side dish should then be low-fat meat such as chicken or fish.
The healthiest meat is of course optimal for a healthy lunch.
The animal protein source can also be replaced with lentils or other legumes, because even the best lentils are an alternative source of protein.
Eating food that is too fatty puts unnecessary strain on the body.
As a result, he has to use too much energy for digestion, motivation and concentration suffer as a result - this is also how the well-known midday slump occurs.
What to do if you don't want a hot lunch?
The above meal is just a recommendation, no one has to force themselves to eat warm lunch.
Even if you only eat a roll or salad for lunch, you are eating healthily depending on the toppings and ingredients; the same rules apply to the roll as to the healthiest breakfast.
If you are preparing a salad, you can add a boiled egg, tuna, chickpeas, sprouts, tofu or feta as a protein component.
If you choose a sandwich, a natural yogurt or a vegan alternative for dessert can provide a few extra proteins.
According to the DEG, you should definitely pay attention to a high proportion of vegetables at lunch, otherwise there will be salad as a side dish.
It is best to eat raw vegetables with bread.
Peppers, carrots, kohlrabi or cucumbers taste great with a dip such as hummus or herb quark.
What is important at lunch?
Since the body needs energy for the second half of the day, it is important to sit down quietly for lunch and take your time.
Gisela Olias from the German Institute for Nutritional Research Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE), for example, points out that rest is fundamentally important when eating.
If you can, you should allow at least half an hour for lunch, the nutrition expert recommends.
“It’s only after 20 minutes that the body can tell you: I’m full, you’ve eaten enough, you don’t need to keep stuffing me.” Eating slowly is also important.
Anyone who eats quickly and under stress often takes in more energy than they need.
This promotes obesity.
How do you prevent the midday slump after eating?
After lunch, some people would like to lie down and take a nap.
The familiar midday low sets in.
You feel tired, stuffed and not motivated to continue working.
In addition to general tiredness, what you eat also has an influence.
Luckily, the midday slump can be avoided by eating a healthy meal and not eating fatty, heavy foods.
You should also not eat beyond your hunger, but only until you are full.
Light foods such as vegetables or salad combined with protein are ideal for getting energy.
Lack of fluids can also make you tired.
We therefore recommend a glass of water with or after a meal.
It's also worth planning a digestive walk after lunch.
(rah)