You’ve probably heard since you were a kid that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is when you first eat after fasting for a lengthy period. Specialists always have recommended to have a balanced meal in order to be healthy and have better results at work and school.
Most parents and specialists believe that breakfast is vital for getting enough energy for the main activities of the day. But is it so important for us when your goal is getting a faster fat lost? Should we keep trying to treat breakfast as an essential meal for your health or should we reconsider according to our weight objectives?
In this article we present you studies about the advantages and disadvantages of having breakfast.
1. Is Breakfast “The Most Important Meal Of The Day”?
Probably one of the most heard advices is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. After a night of sleep you have been fasting for (ideally) ate least 8 hours, when you have your first meal you “break your fast”. Truth to be told, every morning most of us wake up and one of the first things we do is to eat, we have been told that not having breakfast would compromise our metabolism, crush our blood sugar levels, go into starvation or even give you thyroid issues. But should we believe in all this information? Is really breakfast truly necessary to start your day productively?
You don’t have to eat right after waking up! Surprised? Nowadays many people are carrying extra fat around and are having a challenging time getting rid of it. Probably one of the reasons for this is eating in the morning! When you break your fast after sleeping for an extended period of time you are getting carbohydrates, protein and fat to your organism. When you are fasting you aren’t getting any extra external calories and you are using glucose form your body’s backup (present in the liver under the form of glycogen) and triglycerides (stored in your body in the form of fat) are being used to keep you alive making your basic survival need working (like breathing, heart pumping, etc).
2. Can Having Breakfast Be A Problem?
If your objective is to lose fat, having breakfast can be pulling you away from achieving your objectives. Don’t believe me? Follow my reasoning: when you are fasting, you are spending your fat backup so you can perform the basic daily activities. Also, if you aren’t having any extra calories for a prolonged time, a hormone called lipase starts metabolizing fat, more than you can imagine! This is the reason why most fat is burned when no calories, sugars or fats are present on the blood stream.
With this we are not telling you that you shouldn’t eat in the morning, the advice we are giving you is to wait for a while (like a couple of hours) before having your first meal of the day. This way you’ll burn a little extra fat and easily achieve your objectives on loosing fat!
3. Should I Stop Having Breakfast?
Aside the advice we gave you earlier, it doesn’t mean that skipping breakfast is the only way to lose fat! In fact, before you extend your fasting you should always try to get advice from your doctor to know if there isn’t any problem with it or to know if you don’t have any health condition (like diabetes) in which prolonged fasting could be a problem!
Metabolically speaking, skipping breakfast makes sense and also has some extra health benefits for you, for example: you are reducing the digestive juices secretion (like hydrochloric acid), you are allowing your pancreas to rest and recharde the enzymes secretiong, your cells start to become more efficient using glucose and converting it into energy, also you start having a bigger hunger control and you’ll start eating only when your body needs the most!
4. Studies Approve This Theory! But Be Careful…
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition gives us valuable information about what really happened to our bodies when we skin breakfast regularly! The scientists have observed that people usually burn more calories on the days that they skip breakfast, but this habit can lead ton a dangerous increase in inflammation.
How come? 17 healthy adults were tested during 3 separated days, one of them skipping breakfast, another having three regular meals and the other skipping dinner. The calorie content was the same on the three days and blood samples were frequently collected to measure hormone levels, glucose, insulin and immune cells activity. Scientist found that when people skipped breakfast, they burned more calories than in any other day studied. They didn’t find any difference in the glucose levels, insulin secretion or physical activity between the three days but the glucose concentrations and inflammation markers and even insulin resistance were higher after skipping breakfast. Also, people oxidized more fat, which means they were using their bodies’ stored fat reserves, this sounds good to those whom want to lose fat but has a huge downside: the bodies have shown a low metabolic flexibility, meaning that in long term it could lead to a low-grade inflammation and impaired glucose homeostasis. Since chronic inflammation is known to affect insulin sensitivity, skipping breakfast can potentially raise the risk to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes.
5. So, Should I Skip Breakfast?
According to the study we presented you previously, constantly skipping breakfast could have terrible consequences for your health, including developing diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes, having an antagonist effect on what you have desired. But (as everything) there isn’t a “one size fits it all” when it comes to losing weight.
We recommend you trying to keep a healthy and balanced diet that fits all your needs and desires. Also, try to keep yourself active exercising regularly and don’t forget to drink 2 liters of water per day! Your results may take a little longer to show but this way you aren’t putting yourself at risk.
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