By “balance,” nutrition experts mean meals that include a protein, a carbohydrate and a healthy fat, making them “nutrient dense,” said Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic.
For example, a daily breakfast of yoghurt or oatmeal with fresh fruit is healthier than bacon, eggs and hash browns, said Dr Donald Hensrud, an associate professor of nutrition and preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. And a lunchtime salad is better than eating a ham sandwich on white bread.
For dinner, grilled chicken or fish every night with vegetables and brown rice beats a burger and fries, Hensrud said.
Why would someone eat the same foods every day? Sometimes, it’s simply because they prefer those foods. “It may be nothing more complicated than that,” Nestle said.
Others use repetitive eating as a way to lose or control weight. One recent study by Drexel University researchers found that adults who ate the same meals every day lost more weight over 12 weeks than those who followed a more varied diet.
Decision fatigue is another factor, “especially if you are planning meals for others,” Zumpano said.
To keep your diet healthy, some experts recommend that you add a little variety to your meal. “If you have blueberries in your yoghurt one morning, have strawberries or a banana the next, or mix in some oats or nuts,” Hensrud said.
Zumpano added that if you always have a sandwich for lunch “you can build off that concept but still add variety”.
“Have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich one day and grilled cheese or turkey the next day,” she said. But don’t eat too much of a single food, which could lead to excessive exposure to harmful substances, like mercury in fish, or to nutrients considered unhealthy in large amounts.
A 2022 study suggested that breakfast is the meal people are most likely to repeat. It tends to be more functional or utilitarian than social, in part because people often need to get to work or school, and it’s easy to eat the same breakfast every day, said Carey Morewedge, a professor of marketing at Boston University and one of the study’s authors.
Morewedge said that his breakfast – a smoothie of vanilla protein powder, a banana, spinach and avocado – had been the same for several years.
Nestle says she also eats the same breakfast every morning: a bowl of shredded wheat, a teaspoon of sugar and skim milk, and blueberries or strawberries that she grows on her terrace. “It’s simple,” she said. “I like the texture. It’s crunchy. And it’s a great way to start the day.”
Written by: Marlene Cimons
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