Experts publishing in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology warn this common morning habit could also put you at risk of becoming overweight
A major new study published in a prestigious medical journal has revealed a strong link between skipping breakfast and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Highlighting the health benefits of eating breakfast, experts publishing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology have urged people not to skip what could be the most important meal of the day.
The research involved analysis of health data from 6,550 adults aged between 40 and 75 and was gathered as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, conducted between 1988 and 1994. Participants were followed up until 2011 via the National Death Index to examine long-term health outcomes.
Among the 6,550 participants, their mean age was 53.2 years with 48% of them being male. The following people were studied:
- Never consumed breakfast (5.1%)
- Rarely consumed breakfast (10.9%)
- Consumed breakfast on some days (25%)
- Consumed breakfast every day (59%)
Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?
The old saying may well be true. Despite this, experts have observed a growing trend of people routinely skipping breakfast – a habit that has become increasingly common in the United States over the past 50 years. In fact, as many as 23.8% of young people reportedly skip breakfast on a daily basis.
In addition, research indicates that consistently missing breakfast is associated with a higher risk of several health issues, including being overweight or obese, abnormal blood lipid levels (dyslipidaemia), high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, coronary heart disease and stroke.
In their findings, the experts concluded: “In a nationally representative cohort with 17 to 23 years of follow-up, skipping breakfast was associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease. Our study supports the benefits of eating breakfast in promoting cardiovascular health.”
They’re not the only ones to state that breakfast is better had and not skipped. According to experts at Healthline: “Breakfast eaters tend to be healthier and leaner than breakfast skippers. This may be due to the fact that breakfast eaters have other healthy lifestyle habits.”
Not only this, but Dr Lopez-Jimenez at the Mayo Clinic states: “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.” There is also evidence to suggest that heart attacks are more likely to happen in the morning, Dr Lopez added.
He explained: “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.”