The age old saying we hear and often brush off “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”. Let’s face it, it’s easy to skip it in our modern society where every second of productivity counts. For some people, skipping breakfast is used as a trade off in order to sleep in longer, intake less calories or fast longer. Well, what does the research say about it? It’s pretty clear when you consider the evidence while also thinking about how humans have eaten since the dawn of civilization.

A recent study published in Journal of The American College of Cardiology sought to see if there was any relationship between those who frequently skip breakfast and the risk of cardiovascular disease (Uzhova et al., 2017). The results concluded that those who skip breakfast increase their odds of developing atherosclerosis which is what happens when gunk (plaque) builds up in your arteries and can lead to a heart attack or stroke. It’s important to remember that this is just adding to a body of evidence that shows why it’s so important for us to eat a wholesome meal in the morning. Other research has shown that the disruption to children’s routines from not eating breakfast, as well as not getting enough sleep, can contribute to overweight and obesity in children (Kelly, Patalay, Montgomery, & Sacker, 2016). This is an issue that impacts everyone since it is seen in older adults as well. The HEIJO-KYO, study that examined 1052 older adults, found an association between skipping breakfast and obesity as well (Otaki et al., 2017).

So what do we make of this evidence? For some who are trying to lose weight, skipping a meal seems like a way to avoid taking in to many calories. Like so many aspects of our health, it’s more complicated than we think. There is also more to it than a will to take in less calories by avoiding the temptation to overeat through skipping meals. The advice in some health circles used to be, “it doesn’t matter if you skip a meal so long as you don’t go over your daily calorie limit.” Sure, it’s going to be hard to lose weight if you are eating far more calories than you take in, but there are a variety of other considerations such as the role our nervous system and hormones play in our desire for food in general, the kinds of foods we crave, and our ability to say “I have had enough” (Guarino et al., 2017). There are a variety of issues that come into play when you talk about skipping breakfast and a few of those issues are coming to light thanks to research on sleep.

The research on sleep relates to our eating patterns via what is called circadian timing, which in basic terms is our sleep and wake cycles. There is some variability in these cycles but not as much as some might think. New research has shown that people who eat more at night have a higher body fat than those who eat more of their calories during the day (McHill et al., 2017). This was true even after controlling for factors such as the content of food eaten, the activity level, and the calories taken in. Another recent study has shown that night shift workers are more likely to be overweight or obese, especially around the waist, which is the most unhealthy place to store body fat (Sun et al., 2017). This makes sense when you think about it. In the evening, when our bodies start entering into circadian night, the hormones in our bodies change as melatonin becomes active. As the brain and body go into rebuild and restore mode a variety of chemical changes occur that send calories consumed right into storage, regardless of the source. The effect has been documented in mice as well and has implications in the development of type two diabetes and insulin resistance (Hutchison, Wittert, & Heilbronn, 2017).

This research on the impact of consuming calories in the evening highlights even more the importance to eat a well-balanced meal in the morning and to avoid any post dinner snacking in the evening. If you have struggled to lose weight and have tried a variety of diets but always skip breakfast, then consider putting a greater emphasis on your morning meal while also being mindful of the consequences that eating at night has on your ability to lose weight and get healthy. That morning meal is going to help you on your day far more than you might have ever thought possible.

References:

Guarino, D., et al. (2017). The Role of the Autonomic Nervous System in the Pathophysiology of Obesity. Frontiers in Physiology, 8, 665. http://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00665

Hutchison, A. T., Wittert, G. A., & Heilbronn, L. K. (2017). Matching Meals to Body Clocks—Impact on Weight and Glucose Metabolism. Nutrients, 9(3), 222. http://doi.org/10.3390/nu9030222

Kelly, Y., Patalay, P., Montgomery, S., & Sacker, A. (2016). BMI Development and Early Adolescent Psychosocial Well-Being: UK Millennium Cohort Study. Pediatrics, 138(6),

McHill, A. W., et al. (2017). Later circadian timing of food intake is associated with increased body fat. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doi:10.3945/ajcn.117.161588

Otaki, N., et al. (2017). Relationship between breakfast skipping and obesity among elderly: Cross-sectional analysis of the HEIJO-KYO study. Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 21(5), 501-504. doi:10.1007/s12603-016-0792-0

Uzhova, I., et al. (2017). The Importance of Breakfast in Atherosclerosis Disease: Insights from the PESA Study. Journal of The American College Of Cardiology (JACC), 70(15), 1833-1842. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2017.08.027

Sun, M., et al. (2017) Meta-analysis on shift work and risks of specific obesity types. Obesity Reviews, doi: 10.1111/obr.12621.