Since time immemorial, our parents ask us to have meals on time. No matter how old you are, they keep reiterating it time and again, even if you yourself are a parent. However, if you are enslaved to your work or immersed with the emotional soap operas, you sure are to skip or even forget to eat.
Say it is because of the gripping storylines or you have a deadline to meet, we are habituated with irregular eating pattern on almost every other day. Call it ‘exploring cuisines’ or ‘no time to cook,’ many of us have easy access to food and prefer eating out. Despite it, we fail to notice the clock ticking well past the deadline to have a meal.
In a metropolitan city like Chennai where a majority of the population are migrants from other cities, the case becomes much more evident. A few do not know to cook and a few others are lethargic to pack lunch. The solution? Rely on home or office delivery. Do we at least do that on time? I bet no. But thanks to food delivery agents who can be spotted as late as 1 am on Chennai roads.
A typical day of an employee begins with a ‘force-it-to-snooze’ alarm, with much struggle get up 15 minutes later, rush to the loo to bathe and get ready. By the time you get ready, you realise you are already running late to work and decide to skip breakfast and have brunch instead, which technically is late breakfast and an early lunch. At office, work pressure persists in every company without being discriminatory to a specific niche.
While parents emphasise on the negative effects, several studies have been undertaken to assert the impacts it leaves on humans.
Researches prove that irregular pattern of eating habits is directly linked to high risk of metabolic syndrome – high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Though these are the broad conditions, the minor complications are aplenty. For instance, fatigue, restricted calorie intake, depression and migraine are a few among the rest. If you are game to deal it, go ahead and delay the meal time.
But what about the late night cravings to have a cheese-loaded pizza? Have you not come across the maxim ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’ and decide how much calorie does the food have. Here is the science – our body works 24*7, even when we are asleep and if digestive system receives high calories to synthesise, it works right upfront and leads to fatigue the next morning. Balance is the key!