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How to take medicine correctly?

Something as simple as taking medication requires following certain rules. This will help increase the effectiveness of therapy and prevent the development of side effects.

The frequency of taking medications

Usually, when calculating the intervals between taking pills, patients calculate the dose for the time they spend awake. However, this is not the correct approach. The fact is that in order to maintain the required concentration of the drug in the blood, it is necessary to calculate the frequency of administration in all 24 hours of the day. After all, human organs, for example, the liver and kidneys, work around the clock, and, accordingly, constantly remove the drug from the blood. Microorganisms and viruses also do not take into account sleep breaks. Therefore, if you hear from a doctor that the tablets must be taken twice a day, this means that the interval between taking them should not exceed 12 hours. This rule should be strictly followed when taking antimicrobial agents.

However, in the case of a three-time dose, the interval between taking the drug is 8 hours, and three times - 6. But this does not mean that the patient should jump out of bed in the middle of the night so as not to miss the medication. One has only to try to drink tablets at intervals as close to ideal as possible. With a double reception, this is, for example, 8.00 and 20.00. it is convenient for the patient and increases the effectiveness of therapy.

With a short-term intake or an acute condition, patients usually do not forget to drink medicines. However, if tablet therapy is designed for a long period, it often happens that patients stop drinking the drug regularly. The reason for this may be forgetfulness, stress, intense rhythm of life. But it also happens that, forgetting about the first dose of the drug, the patient does it again. At the same time, he receives a doubled dose of the drug, which can adversely affect his health.

To combat the irregularity of taking medications, you can try the following methods:

• keep medicines in a visible place. May they always be at your fingertips;
• after taking the pill, check the calendar;
• set a reminder on your mobile phone at that time. When you need to take another pill.

Pills and food

The effectiveness of the drug can greatly depend on the absence or presence of food in the stomach. Some drugs must be taken strictly after or a certain time before meals, some during. And for the metabolism of other drugs, meals do not play any role. It should be borne in mind that even one candy, a banana or even a glass of juice is food. Thus, it is likely that some drugs cause patients to eat more regularly and deliberately.

If the doctor's recommendations indicate that the drug should be taken before meals, this means that you should not eat for at least 1.5-2 hours before taking the pill. Such a pill should fall into a completely empty stomach, where there is nothing but digestive juices. Only in this way will she be able to show all her effectiveness. Even if you eat one candy shortly before using the drug, the increase in the acidity of the gastric contents will burn, greatly weaken the drug or completely destroy it. This is the case, for example, with macrolides. In this case, it should be clarified how long after taking the medicine you can eat. Most often, in this case, this can be done in half an hour.

If it is recommended to take the drug with food, it will not be superfluous to clarify with which foods it will be combined in the best way. After meals, medications are usually used to normalize digestion. It doesn't have to be a three course meal. A fairly limited amount of food is sufficient.

Combination of drugs

Most drugs are not designed to be used with other medicines. Only a doctor, knowing the features of the pharmacological properties of drugs, can recommend using them simultaneously. Otherwise, the interval between taking the tablets should be at least 30 minutes.

Do not add innovations to the treatment regimen that are not agreed with the specialist. Even simple vitamins can neutralize certain drugs or cause unpredictable side effects. Therefore, the doctor must know about all the drugs that you are taking. If you are being treated by several specialists at once, their actions must be coordinated.

Fractional dosages

Sometimes there are situations that the tablet has to be divided into parts in order to ensure the optimal dosage. However, the integrity of not all drugs can be violated. If there is no separating strip on the tablet, this should already alert. It is not always possible to pour the drug out of the capsule in order to give it in dissolved form, for example, to a child. This can simply deprive the active substance of its properties and the treatment will become useless.

How to take pills

The most optimal liquid that can be used to drink a tablet is plain water. It is strongly not recommended to use juice, tea, coffee, carbonated drinks for this purpose. Neglecting this can be dangerous. Grapefruit juice, for example, strongly interferes with the metabolism of many drugs and can contribute to side effects. Only on the recommendation of a doctor, you can drink some drugs with alkaline mineral waters, acidic drinks or milk to increase their effectiveness. Such features of the drug may even be prescribed in the instructions.

Correct Application

If the instructions say that the tablet should dissolve or go chew, you should do so. Otherwise, a significant decrease in the therapeutic effect is possible. The protective coating of the tablet must not be damaged in any way. In its absence, the active substance of the drug can be damaged in the esophagus, stomach, intestines under the influence of digestive enzymes.

These are the basic rules that should be observed when taking drugs in tablet form. In some cases, however, on the recommendation of a doctor, it is necessary to adjust the dosage regimen. This allows you to adjust to the individual characteristics of the patient's body and reduce the severity of adverse reactions.

It is worth remembering that taking any medications must be agreed with the doctor and carried out in accordance with all the rules. By taking medications under the supervision of experienced professionals, you can be sure that the treatment will be most effective.

Many generally suggest switching to two meals a day, arguing that this is inherent in nature. Some, referring to the doctrine of caloric content, believe: “what’s wrong if I eat enough twice, I won’t exceed the daily calorie requirement, I’ll just divide it into two doses”

A balanced diet (correct) involves 5-6 small meals a day - the main ones (, lunch,) and snacks in between, this is the only way to start ours at full capacity.

What intervals are acceptable between meals

Regular eating leads to the formation of a conditioned reflex, when by a certain time there is a desire to eat.
In our body, every organ is busy with its work. At regular intervals, bile is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. It is produced in order to digest the food we eat. If we eat too many breaks or irregularly, then this is fraught with serious problems for our health.
From the point of view of physiology, it would be ideal to start the next meal only when the digestion of food eaten in the previous meal is over, but since the body does not give us such a signal, the most optimal intervals will be intervals from 3 to 3.5 hours. Such intervals ensure the normal functioning of the digestive system.
And it is absolutely not permissible to take a break for more than 4.5 -5 hours, otherwise the body will think that it is being put on a “starvation ration” and will begin to stock up. This is why we gain weight by eating a couple of meals a day.

Another important point is that the body spends energy to digest food. If the break in eating is very large, then the body remains to burn only fat and muscle, and the muscles burn out faster, and the fat remains.

So, if the breaks between meals are too long, then this threatens with such consequences as:

1. Overexcitation of the food center and the desire to eat at least something to satisfy hunger.
2. The accumulation of gastric juice in the stomach, which irritates the mucous membrane and can lead to inflammatory processes.
3. Overeating.
4. Slow down metabolism.
5. Accumulation of fat and burning of muscles.
6. Depression, irritability and mood swings

Therefore, if you want to lose weight, it is very important not to allow too long intervals between meals.

It is not always possible to have a snack if you are away from home or office, so always carry some food with you that will replace your snack or even lunch. Herbalife has products suitable for this - and.

dietary supplement. It is not a medicinal product.

It also happens that you eat right, but hunger pursues between meals. This may be due to a shortage. Drink your water rate (30 ml per 1 kg of body weight) and you will be fine.
Too short intervals are also not welcome. On average, the digestion of food takes about 2.5 hours, and if you eat more often, it can lead to digestive upset.

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There are radically different opinions about the correct diet. Someone is a zealous supporter of the usual three meals a day, someone is convinced that food should be a single meal. Others say that you should not eat after six. What is the correct diet and how to follow it? In addition, it is also important to take into account

Number of meals per day

Intervals between meals

If a 4-6-time organization of the diet is adopted, then it is important to correctly observe the time intervals between each meal. Between each meal should be no more than four hours. An important role is also played by what exactly was eaten. For example, if the lunch was hearty and satisfying, then an interval of four hours would be ideal. And if there was only a light snack for lunch, then the interval until the next meal should be reduced to a maximum of two hours.

Nutritionists recommend calculating the diet in such a way that all servings are approximately the same calorie content. Then, over time, you can reach the same interval between meals - three or three and a half hours.
The intervals between meals with a three-time regimen should not exceed 5-6 hours.

Four meals a day involves the following distribution of the daily ration. Breakfast should account for 25% of the total diet. 15% for lunch, 35% for lunch and 25% for dinner. If the diet is three times a day, then the share of breakfast should be 40%, lunch 35% and dinner 30%.

Product distribution

Breakfast

Nutritionists agree that for breakfast a person can afford everything he wants. It is best to consume the daily norm of fats in the first half of the day. If a person loves sweets very much, then it is better to absorb it in the morning.

Dinner

Parents have been telling us about the need to chew food thoroughly since childhood. But growing up, we cease to follow the process of nutrition, rushing to urgent matters. But well-chewed food is processed by saliva, and the process of splitting products begins in the mouth. After all, saliva in its composition contains many enzymes that accelerate the process of digestibility of products. And swallowed large pieces stay in the stomach for a long time, which causes a feeling of heaviness, discomfort. Especially if, to speed up the absorption of food, they drink it with water or tea. It is absolutely impossible to do this, because the water soaks the pieces of food, which contributes to their rapid swallowing. Water should be taken half an hour before meals, and tea should be drunk twenty to thirty minutes after the end of the meal. No wonder doctors believe that one meal should take from twenty to thirty minutes of time.

The culture of good nutrition

Many limit themselves to a cup of coffee during breakfast, declaring a lack of appetite. Lunch at work is reduced to a sandwich with tea. But for dinner, a hungry average person is ready to eat both soup and a fried cutlet or chop. And after washing down with sweet tea, sit down in an armchair in front of the TV. But adherence to a proper diet is incompatible with such eating behavior. The distribution of calories consumed should approximately correspond to the following ratios:

• – 30-35%;
• lunch - 25-30%;
• afternoon snack - 15%;
• dinner - 25%.

After all, it is a hearty dinner that leads to the fact that you don’t want to eat at breakfast. It is necessary to gradually reduce the calorie content and density of dinner, increasing the volume of breakfast. For breakfast, you need to eat dishes from complex carbohydrates. It can be cereals from buckwheat, rice, oatmeal with honey, a slice of cheese with grain bread and juice.

Proper nutrition is impossible without counting calories consumed. After all, the amount of energy needed is different for children, the elderly and working adults. However, much depends on the type of activity. An office worker has less energy consumption than a miner, steelworker or loader. Therefore, their diet should have a different calorie content. This does not mean that every day you need to count the calories in every bite you eat. It is enough to make a menu for a week with an approximate calculation of calories. Over time, this procedure will become automatic, because you will remember the calorie content of your main foods.

Selecting and preparing food

The selection of a nutrition program is unthinkable without the choice of products according to the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, fats in them. Complex carbohydrates, such as cereals, bread, potatoes, are recommended for breakfast. The source of animal proteins is meat, fish, and vegetable proteins - legumes, nuts, soybeans, seeds. Avoid eating fatty meats containing cholesterol.

Menu for the week

And in conclusion, let us once again pay attention to the need to give up sweet and starchy foods, especially purchased ones, from eating pies and other fast food on the run.

Different systems and nutrition programs can offer two, three, and four meals a day.

A little about rational nutrition

In this case, we will consider a rational diet, which is based on the principles of balance and calorie theory.

The word "rational" in Latin means science, reason, there are also such meanings as accounting, counting, counting. Rational nutrition is a scientifically based, precisely calculated supply of food to a person, enhances the body's resistance to the effects of toxic substances and infections.

The principles on which rational nutrition is based:

1. The timeliness of the entry into the human body of substances that are needed to compensate. To control the replenishment of energy, knowledge of the level of energy consumption and the energy value of the diet is necessary.
2. Qualitative usefulness of products, when the body receives in sufficient quantities the main food ingredients -, and.
3. The optimal ratio of basic nutrients - the above.

Four times a day for due to the timely intake of vital substances into the body.

Disadvantages of two meals a day with a large interval between meals (up to 7 hours or more)

Rare meals cause an increase in blood levels, contribute to the accumulation of body fat, reduce the active work of the thyroid gland and tissue enzymes.

In most cases, a person immediately eats a large amount of food, as a result, the stomach overflows, stretches its walls, restricts mobility, and, therefore, worsens the mixing of the contents and its processing with juices, the process of evacuating food from the stomach is slow.

Stretching the organ can adversely affect the functioning of the heart. A full stomach raises the diaphragm, complicating cardiac activity.

In the first hours of digestion, a large food load inhibits the work of the gastric glands, reduces the secretion of juice and lengthens the digestion period. Chronic overeating leads to obesity.

In addition, eating a large amount of food can provoke a strong contraction of the muscles of the biliary tract and significant pain in this area.

In addition, due to the fact that an excess amount of blood fills the internal organs, the functional state of the brain blood becomes worse. Therefore, efficiency decreases, weakness and drowsiness appear.

Also, rare meals, when the breaks between them reach 8-10 hours, worsen the rhythmic activity of the intestines, leading to constipation.

Proper diet: intervals between meals

The duration of the intervals is determined by the period of time that is sufficient for the digestion, absorption and assimilation of nutrients.

Large breaks in food can provoke:

The intensity of the synthesis of digestive juices significantly decreases in the first hours after a meal, by the 2nd hour it is restored, by the 4th hour it becomes maximum. For this reason, eating earlier than two hours after the previous meal is not advisable.

During short intervals there is not enough time for the full process of digestion and assimilation of nutrients to the next meal. This can cause a disorder of the motor and secretory work of the digestive canal.

In addition, the following factor is important. A healthy stomach is a muscular bag that can stretch and contract. However, he lacks the ability to grab food, turn it over and process it with juices if there is not a certain amount of it. Therefore, the statement “eat more often and little by little” in the absence of pathologies of the digestive tract is not true.

The most optimal intervals between meals for an adult healthy person are four to six hour intervals. In addition, the digestive glands need rest for 6-10 hours per day, when the ability of the digestive organs to normal work for the next day is restored.

The temperature regime of food

In order for the process of digestion to be carried out properly, the temperature regime of food is important. The temperature of hot food should be no higher than 50 - 60 degrees, cold - no lower than 10 degrees.

Regularity and eating disorders

The regularity of eating at the same time is extremely important. A conditioned reflex of appetite excitation to the time factor is formed. By a certain time, a feeling of hunger arises, which excites the food center and triggers the reflex secretion of gastric juice. clear, organized, correct diet is the most beneficial for digestion and absorption. In most cases, two to three days is a sufficient period for the body to adapt to diet. In some situations, it is difficult to clearly observe the regime, there may be some deviations from the usual hours of eating - optimal - within 30 minutes.

In case of violations diet the conditioned reflex begins to fade. Food enters the stomach, which is not prepared for digestion. This affects the food center - appetite decreases and the food mass is poorly absorbed. Irregular and erratic nutrition perverts the physiological rhythms of the digestive glands, reduces digestibility and in some cases provokes the development of diseases - gastritis, cholecystitis, etc.

If the choice is made in favor of one or the other human diet, it is necessary to strictly observe it, since sudden changes in nutrition, food stresses are not indifferent to the body.

For many people, eating habits are controlled by appetite. What is appetite and how to deal with it?

Often the question arises: how to suppress appetite? It is shown that fractional nutrition (5-6 times a day) suppresses the excitation of the food center. In this case, sometimes one apple or a glass of kefir is enough. In order not to excite the appetite, you should not eat spicy and salty, and it is necessary to completely exclude alcoholic beverages. Alcohol not only poisons the body, but also has a strong, appetite-stimulating effect.

So, increased appetite can be harmful to health, but its complete absence is also undesirable. This often affects small children, whom loving mothers and compassionate grandmothers endlessly stuff with something “delicious”. As a result, the child loses his appetite, and frightened parents, instead of realizing it, try to feed him continuously.

Food with appetite is always a pleasure. It takes time to develop an appetite. Eating breaks are essential. In childhood, they should be shorter than in adulthood.

What should these breaks be like? How much and what should you eat during a meal? In other words, what should be the diet of an adult healthy person.

The diet is based on four basic principles.

• Meal frequency
• Fractionality of food during the day
• Rational set of products
• Physiological distribution of the amount of food according to its intake during the day

Meal time

The main criterion that determines this time is the feeling of hunger. It can be identified by the following sign: at the thought of unattractive food (for example, the image of a piece of stale black bread), saliva appears, at such a moment the tongue, and not the stomach, mostly needs food.

You can confuse the feeling of hunger with the following conditions: "fails" the stomach, "sucks" in the pit of the stomach, cramps occur. All this indicates the unloading of the organ after overfilling, the needs of the stomach and the food center of appetite (a number of brain structures that coordinate the selection, consumption of food and the initial stages of digestive processing).

It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of hunger and appetite when organizing a proper diet. Hunger indicates the need for energy, appetite - the need for pleasure. The right impulse to eat must be hunger, because the deceptive appetite leads to overweight.

Number of meals

The frequency of nutrition or the number of meals affects the metabolism in the body. Factors to consider when determining the frequency of meals:

• age;
• labor activity (mental, physical labor);
• the state of the human body;
• work schedule.

Benefits of multiple meals (four meals a day):

Approximate meal schedule

A sample meal plan might look like this:

• 7:00 - First breakfast.
• 10:00 - Second breakfast.
• 13:00 - Lunch.
• 16:00 - Afternoon snack.
• 19:00 - Dinner.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast should be rich in proteins, you can include, for example, eggs, cottage cheese or other dairy products, turkey sausages. If you can't do without carbs, include fresh fruit or some muesli in your breakfast menu.

Lunch should be light and low-carb. If you are not yet very hungry at this time, still try not to skip second breakfast, but limit yourself to a glass of kefir or juice or some fruit.

Dinner should be balanced and include a source of protein (meat, fish or poultry) and some healthy carbohydrates, preferably only in the form of vegetables or grains. Some healthy fats from olive oil, nuts, or avocados will also help.

afternoon tea may include carbohydrates, preferably only in the form of some fruit, cereal or, at worst, a whole grain bun.

Dinner, like lunch, should be full and well balanced. After dinner, the so-called "Danger Zone" begins. Eating at this time is caused only by psychological, not physiological hunger. Only the desire to cheer yourself up can lead you to the refrigerator. If you intend to lose weight, never eat in the Danger Zone.

Biorhythm - the secret of the right nutrition schedule

The secret to a proper meal schedule is to understand how your body's internal clock is set, i.e. what are your biorhythms. Each person has his own specific pace of life and the readiness of the body to eat is directly related to the time at which a person usually wakes up, when he starts vigorous activity, when he rests, and, finally, when he gets ready for bed. If you are used to waking up no earlier than 11 am, then you are unlikely to be tempted to have breakfast at 11:30 am. However, by lunchtime your appetite will probably be quite good, and by dinnertime you will definitely arrive on time. Those who like to meet the rise of the sunrise, on the contrary, have a great appetite in the morning, but they can completely forget about dinner.

Start your day with protein. Breakfast should be rich in proteins. This will help you get enough energy and is guaranteed to delay the feeling of hunger until the next meal. It is believed that breakfast is best not earlier than 8 am and within 1 hour of waking up. If you wake up much earlier than eight in the morning, then drink a glass of water, do exercises, take a contrast shower in order to delay breakfast closer to the specified time.

Eat at the same time every 3-4 hours. This will help control your appetite. To organize such fractional nutrition, you can distribute the intake of the set of dishes that you usually eat for lunch, for example. First - a salad and the first course, after 3 hours have a snack with the second course. Drink more water during snacks. Water removes toxins from the body.

Lunch at lunch is an important item on the meal schedule. It is at lunchtime that you can afford the largest amount of food, because. the average daily peak of gastric acidity is observed in the middle of the day. Lunch must be taken before 3 pm.

Dine no later than 8 pm. Eating after 8 p.m. overloads the normal function of the pancreas and blocks the release of melatonin, which is necessary for sound healthy sleep.

Distribution of calories throughout the day

Preparation for a new day for the body should begin with a certain amount of energy. To fully work, a person needs calories. That is why the most useful and optimal diet will be one in which our body receives a little more than 70% of the total calories consumed at breakfast and lunch. And for dinner and intermediate snacks, less than 30% of the total remains. With such a nutrition schedule, a person receives enough strength for his activities, without putting off excess fat during a plentiful evening feast.

An interval of 4-5 hours between separate meals will be the most optimal and physiological. And the time from the last meal to sleep should be at least three to four hours. Such a diet is able to replenish the energy costs of our life, and control appetite without loading human systems with extra calories.

Following these principles of optimal diet and rational eating, as well as the previous rules of healthy eating, will not only save your weight from extra pounds, but also save it from unnecessary stomach problems and heart disease.