Health
‘Is it bad to skip breakfast if I’m not hungry?’: Ask a doctor
You’ve likely heard the old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what if you’re just not hungry in the morning?
Is it OK to consistently skip the morning meal and hold off until lunch?
Fox News Digital asked some nutritionists about the potential ramifications of bypassing breakfast on a regular basis and their recommendations for optimizing metabolism with a healthy morning routine.
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While most experts agree it’s OK to skip breakfast once in a while, it’s generally beneficial to eat something within an hour or two of waking up.
While most experts agree it’s OK to skip breakfast once in a while, it’s generally beneficial to eat something within an hour or two of waking up. (iStock)
“Skipping breakfast regularly could lead to some unwanted side effects,” Shelley Balls, registered dietitian and owner at Fueling Your Lifestyle in Smoot, Wyoming, told Fox News Digital.
“It can lead to an overconsumption of foods in the following meals throughout the day. You may think you’re eating fewer calories, but you might actually be binging at lunch or dinner,” she said.
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Never eating breakfast can also affect energy levels, she warned, as the body isn’t getting the carbohydrates and nutrients it needs to perform optimally.
There could also be a long-term effect of slowing down the metabolism, the expert said.
“Breakfast is meant to break the overnight fast, and can help jump-start your metabolism. So, over time, not eating breakfast could decrease your metabolism, as your body becomes more efficient with fewer calories,” Balls said.
Protein in the morning usually leads to a higher calorie burn and helps to reduce hunger later in the day, experts say. (iStock)
Breakfast has been associated with a bevy of benefits, including better weight management, better cognitive function, increased metabolism, improved energy and reduced hunger, according to Vanessa King, registered dietitian nutritionist and media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in Oahu, Hawaii.
“Breakfast gives you an energy boost to power-start your day,” King told Fox News Digital.
“Not eating breakfast could decrease your metabolism, as your body becomes more efficient on fewer calories.”
“Breaking an overnight fast with a balanced breakfast significantly impacts well-being and overall health,” she added. “It’s important for everyone. And for children and teens, eating breakfast has been associated with better behavior and academic performance.”
If you’re not hungry within an hour or two of waking up, King suggests looking at your eating pattern.
“Are you snacking at night and it’s leaving you full in the morning? Try lighter snacks and allow more time between your last meal and sleep,” she advised.
The fasting factor
For people who are following a plan of intermittent fasting or time-restricted feeding, eliminating breakfast is a common way to maintain a shorter eating window and a longer fasting stretch, according to Dr. Jennie Stanford, an obesity medicine physician in Pennsylvania and medical contributor for Drugwatch.
“One main determinant here is how someone feels later in the day,” she told Fox News Digital.
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If skipping breakfast makes you feel ravenous later in the day, ultimately causing you to overconsume at other meals, this is not recommended, the doctor said.
“However, if not eating breakfast doesn’t impact the calories and other macronutrients they consume as the day progresses, it may represent an opportunity to decrease overall calorie intake,” Stanford added.
Lighter options for when you’re not hungry
“If you’re not ready for a full meal, begin with something small within 30 to 60 minutes of waking,” recommends Chloë Ward, a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and certified integrative nutrition health coach in Santa Barbara, California.
“Even a light snack can help signal to your body that it’s time to start burning energy.”
“Breakfast gives you an energy boost to power-start your day,” an expert told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Ward offers the following breakfast suggestions for someone who’s not generally hungry in the morning but wants to kick-start metabolism.
- Smoothies: A nutrient-dense smoothie with ingredients like spinach, a small amount of fruit, protein powder and healthy fats (like avocado or nut butter) can be a light yet satisfying option.
- Greek yogurt with berries: Greek yogurt is rich in protein and can be paired with a handful of berries and a sprinkle of nuts or seeds for added fiber and healthy fats.
- Overnight Oats: Preparing oats the night before with milk, chia seeds and a dash of cinnamon can create a light and easy-to-digest breakfast that’s ready when you wake up.
- Protein-rich snack: A hard-boiled egg, a piece of turkey or chicken, or a small serving of cottage cheese can be a quick and light protein boost.
- A piece of fruit with nut butter: Slices of apple or banana with a spoonful of almond or peanut butter offer a balance of carbs, protein and healthy fats without being too heavy.
Greek yogurt is rich in protein and can be paired with a handful of berries and a sprinkle of nuts or seeds for added fiber and healthy fats, a nutritionist said. (iStock)
Overall, experts agree that healthy options like fruits, whole grains, dairy, protein and vegetables provide the biggest benefit.
“Protein has a higher thermogenic effect than other macronutrients, meaning it requires more energy (heat) to break it down than either fats or carbohydrates,” Stanford told Fox News Digital.
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“As such, having protein in the morning usually leads to a higher calorie burn, at least temporarily.”
Protein also helps to reduce hunger later in the day, Stanford said.
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“Protein doesn’t have to mean meat, if it sounds too heavy in the morning,” she noted.
“Other good protein sources include low-sugar Greek yogurt, eggs, low-carb breakfast wraps, cheese, protein oats, protein shakes or clean protein bars.”
“Even a light snack can help signal to your body that it’s time to start burning energy.”
If you really can’t tolerate food in the morning, Ward suggests starting the day with a glass of warm water, possibly with lemon.
“Warm water helps wake up your digestive system, aids in hydration and can boost your metabolism after a night of fasting,” she said.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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