Is skipping breakfast linked to bad health?

It is often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but would skipping breakfast spell any troubles for your health? Let’s dive into the latest analyses and find out the answer to this question.

Breakfast has been labelled as a crucial meal, more important than other meals in the day. Health experts recommend breaking the habit of skipping breakfast as not only does it cause weight gain, but also a slowdown in metabolism.

However, the significance of breakfast still remains a debatable topic. Recent studies have started questioning whether skipping breakfast harms our health, or if it would be actually healthier to abstain from it.

Here are new findings on commonly argued points of the effects of eating and skipping breakfast.

Skipping breakfast causes weight gain

Although breakfast consumers tend to weigh less than breakfast non-consumers, there has been no evidence to suggest that skipping breakfast actually leads to weight gain.

Skipping breakfast causes the brain to respond more promptly to food, and usually makes people go overboard with lunch. In spite of this, evidence does not indicate that our total daily calorie intake rises due to passing on breakfast. Indeed, recent high-quality experiment results published in the Journal of Nutritional Science have shown the contrary. The study results indicate that skipping breakfast could cut down on the total calorie absorption by up to 400 calories per day.

One possible reason to explain the perceived association between skipping breakfast and weight gain could be that people who eat breakfast also have other healthy lifestyle habits. For instance, breakfast eaters tend to have a healthier overall diet, whereas breakfast skippers often smoke, drink more and exercise less.

On the whole, the habit of eating breakfast is just one of many factors contributing to the better health of breakfast eaters despite the fact that skipping the meal doesn’t necessarily contribute to weight gain.

Skipping breakfast slows down your metabolism 

Eating stimulates an assortment of biological processes which result in calories burned. This is also known as diet induced thermogenesis (DIT). In this sense, eating breakfast does foster metabolism.

Nevertheless, research has indicated that the total amount of food consumed throughout the day is the core factor affecting DIT – which accounts for the burning around 10% – 15% of calories we intake. Hence, no matter when, or how often you eat, there is no difference in the amount of burned calories within a day if your level of activity remains a constant.

Researchers also have another explanation for increased metabolism due to having breakfast. People who eat breakfast expend more energy through working out (especially in the morning) than those skipping it. So it may be that skipping breakfast decreases vitality, through lowering the release of energy among non-eaters of breakfast.

Skipping breakfast may bring about some health benefits 

Skipping breakfast is acknowledged as a common component of many intermittent fasting methods – which have been proven to bring about effective results in reducing calorie intake and revamping metabolic health.

But, it’s essential to note that intermittent fasting, as well as skipping breakfast, isn’t applicable to everyone since the impact on each individual differs radically. Some people might see positive results, whereas others could experience faintness, headaches, a plunge in blood sugar levels and inadequate ability to maintain concentration.

Breakfast is arbitrary 

The conclusion here is that although regularly eating breakfast can be a good thing for your overall health, it is not a fundamental need.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a breakfast consumer or non-consumer, it is necessary to keep in mind that both options have certain merit and may produce different effects on each person. Consulting a dietitian or nutritionist is always recommended when making important decisions about lifestyle and eating habits.

 References
1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eat-breakfast-gain-less-weight-belly-fat-study/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24898236
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473164/
4. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/100/2/539/4576482
5. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156
6. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00631/full