Is eating the same lunch every day considered healthy?

Housing Minister Dominic Raab’s diary secretary recently revealed that he eats the same thing for lunch every day of the week.

She said: “He has the same sandwich every day. He has the same lunch. He has the same baguette with the same smoothie with a pot of fruit everyday.

“It’s from Pret. He has the chicken Caesar and bacon baguette, superfruit pot and the vitamin volcano smoothie every day.”

But aside from the fact that Raab must be spending a fortune by not bringing in lunch from home, many people have expressed confusion at the fact that the Tory MP eats the exact same meal every day.

Sure, it sounds rather boring, but is there actually anything wrong with eating the same lunch every day? And is Raab’s choice healthy? We asked the experts.

“His choice of lunch could definitely be worse!” specialist dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine told The Independent.

“I love the fact that he’s ordering a superfruit pot with his lunch and the ingredients of his smoothie look good; it’s a mixture of whole fruits with apple juice. As long as that’s his only smoothie/fruit juice for the day then he’s within the guidelines of sticking to 150ml of each a day.”

Raab’s choice of sandwich, however, scored him fewer points.

“Regarding the baguette, although chicken is a lean, white meat, the bacon is classed as a red, processed meat which we shouldn’t ideally be eating on a daily basis; this is because of the extra salt it contains and the processing that it goes through. There is a little bit of salad in his baguette, but to add even more fibre the baguette could be wholemeal,” Ludlam-Raine explains.

So would it be worth Raab choosing a different sandwich from time to time?

“Variety is the spice of life and although having the same meal for lunch is easy, it’s not good for your body - we need to get a range of different nutrients and pre/probiotics across the week,” Ludlam-Raine continues.

“I would suggest he mixes his lunch up and perhaps only has this particular lunch two to three times a week.”

If you want to make sure your lunch ticks all the boxes, follow the following guidance from Harley Street nutritionist and author of Re-Nourish: A Simple Way To Eat Well, Rhiannon Lambert:

“An ideal plate consists of one portion of protein, one handful of carbohydrates, two handfuls of non-starchy vegetables and one thumb-sized portion of healthy fats,” she told The Independent.

“Having a well balanced and varied diet is also the key the good gut health. More and more research is demonstrating the importance of variety and fibre in our diet to help our gut bacteria thrive.

“A lot of us are creatures of habit and sometimes get stuck in the routine of having the same foods everyday. However, I like to challenge my clients to add as much colour to their diet as possible. Making small changes such as adding a variety of fruits and vegetables to your diet may have a big effect on your overall health.”