Health experts sound alarm as new study links skipping breakfast with life-threatening disease
Health experts are sounding the alarm after a new study has linked skipping breakfast with a life threatening disease.
The new research, which was published on ScienceDirect, has made worrying links with missing breakfast and higher risks of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
In the study, it detailed how missing the first meal of the day has ‘potential health consequences across multiple domains’.
This is because ‘breakfast omission is linked to various adverse health effects’ as ‘evidence highlights associations with obesity and weight gain due to altered hormonal responses influencing hunger and energy balance’.
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The study went on to say: “Breakfast is commonly regarded as a key meal due to its potential role in stabilizing energy balance and regulating metabolic processes. Numerous observational studies and systematic reviews indicate inverse associations between breakfast consumption and weight gain, with additional findings linking breakfast omission to increased body mass index (BMI), disrupted glucose metabolism, and adverse lipid profiles.
“The physiological rationale behind these associations suggests that meal timing plays a critical role in glycemic control, as fasting-induced hormonal fluctuations may exacerbate insulin resistance and impair metabolic flexibility. However, causality remains challenging to establish, given the influence of confounding factors such as diet quality, physical activity, genetic predisposition, and socioeconomic status.”
Breakfast is often described as being the most important meal of the day, but what actually are the health benefits from it?
Dr Lopez-Jimenez from the Mayo Clinic, detailed: “Skipping breakfast, historically, hasn't been something necessarily healthy. There are numerous studies showing that people who skip breakfast have an increased risk for heart disease and many other ailments.”
He continued: “Part of it is the high adrenaline state that occurs early in the morning. If you match that with no food, no calories at all, what happens is that the body says, ‘well, with no food, I could die from starvation, so I have to do some extra things’.
“And those extra things are basically crunching the glands that make adrenaline. And essentially, the body gets into this rush of adrenaline.”
In the study, it concluded: “While the practice of skipping breakfast has gained attention for its potential metabolic benefits, emerging evidence underscores its adverse health implications across various physiological and cognitive systems. This systematic review highlights consistent associations between breakfast omission and increased appetite, insulin resistance, cardiovascular risk, obesity, gut microbiome dysbiosis, and systemic inflammation, which may contribute to an elevated risk of chronic diseases.”