Health: Dangers Of Skipping Breakfast
It has been sung countless times; breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Though a large number of people agree to this fact, not many keep up with it. With the increasingly time-demanding lifestyle we lead, taking time out to eat breakfast is a luxury most people think they cannot afford. For this category of people, brunch at 12 noon or sometimes, outright skipping of breakfast is the norm.
While some attribute busy schedules to the reason for their missing breakfast, others assume skipping breakfast might help cut down their calorie intake and subsequently, help them lose weight. Interestingly, this is an assumption which studies have now proven to be, in fact, the other way around. There are increasing pointers to the fact that eating or skipping breakfast can have a tremendous effect on one’s overall health including one’s exposure to certain diseases and conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular problems. So, what makes breakfast so important?
Slows metabolism
To begin with, Mrs. Ebere Okafor, a nutritionist and wellness professional, says breakfast prepares the body for the tasks for the day. “Breakfast kicks off the body’s metabolism. When we sleep, the entire body’s metabolic activities slow down, so, when we wake, the easiest and most natural way to get it all started is to
feed the body with food. This would signal the brain to wake up every other part of the body and begin metabolism. The system works like a car. If the hand brakes are engaged, the car struggles to move. But when it is disengaged, there is smooth movement. When you skip breakfast, it is likened to a car on brake. It slows down the body’s metabolism and this would affect the amount of calories you burn, eventually leading to weight gain,” she says.
Weight gain
Experts have stated that those who skip breakfast tend to either eat more food than usual when they have their next meal or nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger, all of which can contribute to weight gain. So, the idea of not eating breakfast to induce weight loss becomes counterproductive because the individual ends up eating more, only at a later period.
Interestingly, not only is it important to eat breakfast, but a healthy, high-calorie diet for breakfast has added advantages as regards weight loss. One study published in the August 2013 edition of the journal, Obesity, on “High Caloric intake at breakfast vs. dinner differentially influences weight loss of overweight and obese women” showed that those who eat their largest daily meal at breakfast are far more likely to lose weight and waist line circumference than those who eat a large dinner.
Memory
If you have an early morning test, it is advised that eating breakfast may help with memory and cognitive functions. Research conducted by the University of Toronto and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating a carbohydrate-rich breakfast increased performance on short and long-term memory tests among participants. There have been other studies corroborating this fact and a 2005 Journal of the American Dietetic Association review of 47 breakfast-related studies, found that, indeed, eating breakfast is likely to improve cognitive function related to memory and test grades.
Diabetes
Skipping breakfast has also been shown to effect an increase in women’s diabetes risk. In the study published in Obesity, it was discovered that participants who ate a larger breakfast – which included a dessert item such as a piece of chocolate cake or a cookie – also had significantly lower levels of insulin, glucose, and triglycerides throughout the day, translating into a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
Another study published the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that women who ate breakfast an average of zero to six times per week were at a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than women who ate breakfast every day.
Affects mood
It is usually said that “a hungry man is an angry man.” This aphorism is not far from the truth and studies have shown that skipping breakfast can have a huge effect on one’s moods. It has been proven that people who tend to skip breakfast are more irritable and grouchy.
Heart disease
Besides exercise and healthy eating for optimum heart health, the decision to make a habit of either eating or skipping breakfast can affect one’s chances of having heart problems. A 16-year study of 26,902 males on their eating habits and their risk of developing coronary heart disease found that men who reported skipping breakfast had a 27 per cent higher risk of coronary heart disease than men who ate breakfast. The study, which was published in the journal Circulation, showed that those of the participants who didn’t eat breakfast were generally hungrier later in the day and ate more food at night, leading to metabolic changes and heart disease.
