What will happen to your health if you skip breakfast every day?

According to most nutritionists, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the time and quality of which determines well-being and activity throughout the day. However, there is a tendency among people to skip this meal for various reasons. Someone considers it useful for weight loss, while someone simply does not feel hungry in the morning. MedAboutMe found out what happens to your body if you skip breakfast every day.

You may gain weight

Scientists who published their findings in a journal Proceedings of the Nutrition Societyfound out whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day. They studied the effects of morning fasting on energy balance and health and found no clear effect of eating or skipping breakfast on body weight and composition, metabolic rate, or diet-induced thermogenesis. Data on energy consumption during the day varied greatly. According to some reports, it does not change, or even slightly decreases, when breakfast is excluded from the diet. But even if net energy intake is reduced, prolonged morning fasting may not lead to the expected weight loss due to compensatory adjustments in physical activity thermogenesis.

In addition, those who refuse breakfast in the morning are prone to overeating before bed, and this inevitably leads to weight gain. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly distribute the daily caloric content of your diet.

Your mood may worsen

If you are always out of sorts in the morning, then think, maybe your bad mood is due to the lack of breakfast? Scientists believe that people who refuse it are more likely to become depressed, and this is an alarming sign, because depression is not just a bad mood. This is a mental disorder in which the ability to enjoy life is reduced or completely lost. With a low level of glucose, which is typical for a long absence of food, there are rapid mood changes, unmotivated irritability, depression appear. Experts believe that glucose levels should be at least 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).

You may be tired in the middle of the day

Why does a person need breakfast? In the morning, after sleep and, accordingly, a long break in nutrition, glycogen stores in the body are at an extremely low level. The thing is that the main source of energy for our body is glucose. Some of it is stored in the liver, and the body stores some in the form of glycogen in order to maintain a stable blood sugar level with it at night. In the morning, when glycogen stores are depleted, the body begins to break down fatty acids to provide the energy it needs.

But without a morning dose of carbohydrates, fatty acids are only partially oxidized, which can reduce overall energy potential and lead to decreased activity, fatigue in the middle of the day. Scientists believe that those who eat breakfast in the morning feel more alert than those who skip it.

Your memory may suffer

A lot of scientific research is devoted to the effect of morning meals on cognitive functions. For example, scientists whose results were published in the journal Advances in Nutrition, dedicated it to studying the acute cognitive effects of intermittent fasting. The results demonstrated that eating breakfast in healthy adults resulted in a small but strong improvement in memory. Therefore, it makes sense for everyone whose activity is related to mental work to have breakfast if you want to work productively and actively.

You may feel a headache

Experts believe that malnutrition and skipping meals can trigger headaches or migraines. With a strong drop in blood glucose levels associated with a prolonged lack of food, other unpleasant symptoms may also appear — nausea, dizziness, yawning, blanching of the skin, sweating, etc. If you regularly notice such unpleasant consequences of not eating the first meal, try start eating breakfast. If this is not possible, take a healthy snack with you on the road — sandwiches, fresh fruits and vegetables, sour-milk drinks.

Your cortisol levels may rise

Skipping breakfast can trigger an increase in free cortisol levels, as the body can perceive a prolonged lack of nutrients as a stressful event. Called the «stress hormone,» cortisol stimulates the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates, maintaining proper blood sugar levels. But at the same time, a person may experience anxiety and irritability, so it is better to maintain the vital activity of your body and good health through a healthy and tasty breakfast.

You can reverse aging

It is believed that skipping breakfast can reverse aging. Of course, it is unlikely to turn this process in the opposite direction and start getting younger. Experts say only that calorie restriction and intermittent fasting can increase the level of growth hormones and lower the level of the hormone insulin, which will favorably affect the appearance, beauty and attractiveness of a woman. However, in the light of the foregoing, we can conclude that it is better to give up dinner than breakfast, and even better to eat right and rationally, trying to consume only healthy, natural foods, distributing daily calories in accordance with your needs and level of physical activity.