When it comes to food and heart health, there are two factors that matter: the kind of food you eat and the timing of it.
While eating three meals a day is the standard set by all guidelines, for a majority of people, it isn’t a reality. It’s difficult to eat all meals when you have to wake up, eat, go to work, eat on the go and then eat again at home. According to a new study, skipping breakfast may create some risks when it comes to your heart health.
Published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, the study was a meta-analysis that looked at seven different studies conducted on breakfast and heart health. While the studies had conflictive evidence, researchers hoped to provide some clarification with an overview of them all.
Over 220,000 participants were analyzed. 22% of them skipped breakfast, experiencing an increase in cardiovascular disease risk.
This isn’t the first time that skipping breakfast has been associated with poor heart health. According to the American Heart Association, people who skip breakfast are more likely to experience diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol, all conditions that are related to heart disease.
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While all meals are important, breakfast holds a special place in our days. It’s the meal that provides us with that initial burst of energy, determining our moods, helping us concentrate and replenishing the energy and nutrients that your body craves and lost through the night. Breakfast breaks the overnight period of fasting, which is usually long.
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It’s common for people to skip breakfast due to time concerns, prioritizing meals like lunch and dinner. But breakfast is pivotal for a variety of reasons. It helps people maintain their weight, controlling their appetite and preventing them from eating something caloric just because they’ve reached the middle of their day and haven’t had the time to eat a thing.
People who eat breakfast regularly tend to be healthier, in their heart and their lives. If there’s one meal you should prioritize is that one.
