At one point or another, you may have heard your mother say that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Although you may not believe her, there is truth to this assertion. If you are not sold on why you should eat breakfast, it is important to know the effects skipping breakfast has on your health and overall weight management.
Processing of Calories
Your daily caloric intake is based on how many calories you eat throughout the day to support your body's functioning. Generally, it is important to stick to the recommended calories each day, but it is equally as important to distribute those calories throughout the day to maintain balance. For example, if you are skipping breakfast to save calories, you are actually cheating your body out of calories it needs. While it is important to avoid excess calories, restricting calories can cause your body to hold on to excess weight.
Energy
Food provides your body with energy. Think of your car and its need for gas. Without gas, your car does not work. Skipping breakfast means you begin your day without fuel. Although you may not be able to tell, internally your body does not have the resources it needs to support your other bodily functions. If you don't eat breakfast, you may feel sluggish or have significant difficulty exerting the necessary energy to exercise, which is an important part of combating obesity.
Blood Sugar
Eating has a direct effect on your blood sugar by causing it to rise or fall, based on your eating habits. When you don't eat, your blood sugar levels fall. For example, your blood sugar level may be lower in the morning because of the time lapsed while you are sleeping. Compounded with this time, if you skip breakfast you have deprived your body of fuel for an average of 10 hours. If you are diabetic, skipping breakfast could severely impact your health by causing fatigue, difficulty concentrating or the occurrence of a diabetic coma. Frequent rising and falling of blood sugar makes it difficult for your body to metabolize foods properly and could contribute to obesity.
Overeating
People who skip breakfast regularly increase their chances of overeating later in the day. Skipping breakfast can greatly increase your hunger and cause you to eat too much food or you may make unhealthy choices by choosing foods that are higher in fat and carbohydrates because they appear to be more filling. Repeating this pattern over time will contribute to obesity.
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