Skipping breakfast makes you more likely to gain weight. Why is this happening?

When managing their weight, some people specifically target breakfast, thinking that eating one less meal can help them lose an extra two pounds, but is this really the case?

In fact, what you missed in breakfast will be made up in lunch and dinner, and may even make you eat more. People who skip breakfast will crave high-carb, high-fat, and high-energy foods during lunch and dinner. Coupled with overeating caused by hunger, it is easy to cause abnormal insulin levels, affect the body's normal regulation of blood sugar, and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes .

Moreover, these extra portions will be stored as fat in the body, which may increase the risk of fatty liver disease. So breakfast is essential if you want a healthy liver.

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In addition to causing obesity, skipping breakfast has other disadvantages.

A Korean study showed that skipping breakfast increases the risk of high blood pressure by 36.6%; another Japanese study showed that people who skip breakfast have an 18% increased risk of stroke and a 36% increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

Currently, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases cause about one-third of the world's population to die, and the incidence rate is increasing every year. In addition to genetic factors, unhealthy diet is the key to inducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, including skipping breakfast.

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Skipping breakfast can also affect mood and cognitive ability . If you don’t develop the habit of eating breakfast, your blood sugar level is prone to abnormally high or low, which can damage brain function in the long run. Studies have found that nutrients such as protein, calcium, and B vitamins can affect people’s mood. The richer the variety of carbohydrates in breakfast, the more positive your mood may be after eating breakfast .

Based on the above studies, skipping breakfast can harm our health in many ways. Want to lose weight by skipping breakfast? Think again.

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Reviewer: Zhang Na, Associate Researcher, Doctoral Supervisor, Peking University School of Public Health