But for most Englishmen breakfast is a bowl of cereal followed by toast and marmelade, and coffee or tea, of course.
In the middle of the morning they have elevenses, which is usually not more than a cup of coffee and biscuits. Sometimes, often at weekends, when they get up later, they have brunch, a combination meal which is eaten for breakfast and lunch.
The midday meal is generally called lunch. Lunch often consists of hot dish ( soup ), a salad, ham and cheese sandwiches, pizza and a dessert.
Around 4.00 it is teatime. In Britain it is a special occasion. The traditional tea consists of thin slices of white or brown bread and butter with cheese, fish or ham, fruit pies, biscuits and tea or coffee. Nowadays many people don´t eat much at teatime, but they have at least one cup of coffee or tea.
The hot dinner which is served around 7.00 may have three or four courses. It consists of soup or some other starter, then the main course which is followed by a dessert. With the meal they may have beer, cider or wine. They finish their dinner with coffee rather than tea. On some special occasions such as Christmas, traditional food is served in Britain.
In the course of a day the human body should get approximately two litres of water. Not all at once, but in small quantities. The same applies to our meals. It isn´t good to overeat. It´s better to eat more frequently, but in small portions. It isn´t easy to determine how much a person should eat in one day. It is bad if somebody eats of boredom, to kill time or just because he likes a particular food.
Inappropriate food may cause a lot of disease. More frequent now are disordes of the digestive system, stomach, thyroid gland and small and large intestine. When we are shopping, we should watch carefully its nutritional values, content of fats, minerals and vitamins.