Among the three daily meals, breakfast is arguably the most important meal for providing the body with energy. However, many people, busy with work in their daily lives, often skip breakfast. This practice is very harmful to the body and endangers health. So, what are the dangers of skipping breakfast?
What are the dangers of skipping breakfast?
1. Gastritis, Gastric Ulcer
The harm to the digestive system from skipping breakfast is the most direct. Normally, the food eaten the night before is emptied from the stomach into the intestines after about 6 hours. If you skip breakfast and lunch the next day, gastric acid and various digestive enzymes in the stomach will start to "digest" the gastric mucosa layer. Over the long term, the normal function of cells secreting mucus is disrupted, which can easily lead to digestive system diseases such as gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers.
2. Gallstones
Researchers suggest that breakfast should be as light as possible on greasy foods, and one should not skip breakfast because of being late for work or oversleeping. This is because when the stomach is empty, bile is prone to stagnation, which can easily lead to symptoms of stones. People whose diet is high in meat and sweets also have a higher intake of fat and cholesterol, making them more susceptible to forming gallstones. Excessive sweets also promote insulin secretion, accelerating the deposition of cholesterol in bile and forming gallstones.
3. Irregular Menstruation, Pelvic Inflammation
Many women who are beauty-conscious include breakfast in their dieting plans, which lays hidden dangers for their reproductive system health. Especially in winter, skipping breakfast causes the body's "fire" to be doubly insufficient, leading to a cold constitution in women. This can cause blood vessels in the pelvis to constrict, leading to ovarian dysfunction, causing menstrual flow to be too little, menstrual imbalance, and even amenorrhea.
4. Colds
After investigation and research, it was found that frequent colds and illnesses are more common in children who skip breakfast. Compared to those who skip breakfast, people who eat breakfast regularly, especially those who eat cereal for breakfast, get colds less often and with milder symptoms.
5. Cardiovascular Diseases
Long-term skipping of breakfast can easily lead to low-density lipoprotein depositing on the inner walls of blood vessels, causing arteriosclerosis. In addition, some scientists have conducted detailed studies on people who skip breakfast for a long time and found that their chances of suffering from myocardial infarction and other diseases are much higher than in groups who eat breakfast normally.
6. Bad Teeth
Studies have shown that children aged 2 to 5 who often skip breakfast have a risk of cavities more than four times higher than children who eat breakfast. This is because children who don't like breakfast often turn to snacks when they feel hungry, which can easily create a conditioned reflex of aversion or nausea at the sight of breakfast. Moreover, the high sugar content in snacks creates an environment for cavities to develop.