You may start the day with a healthy breakfast but do you make sure your lunch is equally healthy? What you have for lunch can determine how productive you are for the rest of the day so whether you eat lunch at home, in the car or at work, it is worth taking the time to make yourself a healthy meal.
Why Lunch is Important
Typically we eat lunch in the middle of the day. We need a meal at this time as we need fuel for the rest of the day. The body needs carbohydrates to perform mentally and physically and lunch helps to alleviate hunger – if we didn’t eat between breakfast and dinner we would be starving and feeling very lethargic by dinner time. As many of us work and/or exercise during the afternoon we need to have fuel to do this. A healthy lunch will also help us to meet our daily requirements for vitamins and minerals.
What Does a Healthy Lunch Contain?
A healthy lunch needs to provide you with a source of low glycemic index carbohydrates, protein and a small serve of good fat.
Low glycemic index carbohydrates release energy slower so you will have more energy for your brain and muscles throughout the afternoon. They also tend to have more nutrients. Low glycemic carbohydrates that you may like to incorporate in your lunch (and other meals!) include; wholegrain bread, sweet potato, basmati or doongara rice, egg fettuccine, black eyed or butter beans, fresh rice noodles, soba noodles, barley or sourdough.
Protein is needed for muscle repair and hormone development but it will also help you to feel fuller for longer. Protein is found in the meat and meat alternatives food group, and the dairy/milk food group. This includes beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, fish, pork, eggs, nuts, seeds, lentils/legumes, tofu, soy products, milk, yoghurt, custard and cheese.
Aim to include small amounts of good fats (the unsaturated fats) in your lunch meal. Good ways to include unsaturated fat is to use avocado on your sandwich or in your salad, sprinkle seeds on your salad or in your soup, or have a small handful of mixed raw nuts and seeds. Fish also contains good fats (as well as protein) so is ideal for lunch.
Healthy Lunch Ideas
Try these healthy lunch ideas:
- A small tin of tuna or salmon mixed with quinoa (or brown rice), roasted vegetables and a little balsamic vinegar.
- A wholegrain sandwich filled with lettuce, tomato, capsicum, cucumber (or any other salad vegetables you like) and a lean meat plus a piece of fruit OR if you prefer not to eat meat substitute the lean meat for hummus or tahini. If you would like to have an alternative to bread you could have a wholegrain roll, tortilla or bun.
- Vegetable based soup with lentils and a wholegrain roll on the side. Try pumpkin soup with lentils or a full mixed vegetable soup with added barley. You could also make a minestrone soup and add extra beans.
- A roasted capsicum filled with brown rice and vegetables, and topped with a little feta.
- Make a wholemeal pasta salad with leftover chicken and vegetables and add a little balsamic vinegar as a dressing.
- Make a basmati or brown rice salad with leftover meat and vegetables.
- Roast sweet potato and add it to a rocket salad with plenty of tomato and coriander, top with a few cashews and a chilli lime dressing.
- If you need a lunch on the run try sushi and miso soup for a lower fat option.
