What happens to the body when we miss breakfast

Finally is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

The role of breakfast in health and body weight has been a matter of dozens - not to say hundreds of - scientific studies, with the results both for and against the first meal of the day still unclear and controversial.

Some studies show that people who eat breakfast systematically avoid episodes of overeating during the day, while others have argued that there are not significant differences in weight between morning and non-eating people.

A recent report by the American Cardiology Association showed that morning consumption is associated with lower risk of heart disease and hypertension and with healthier cholesterol levels, but the association itself says there is insufficient scientific evidence to suggest any formal recommendation to those who do not consume Breakfast to adopt this habit.

A new German scientific study comes to complicate things even further, since it shows that the omission of the breakfast meal is linked by one with a higher calorie burning in the day but on the other with increased inflammation in the body.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Hohnheim and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, included 17 healthy adults, who were asked to follow three different scenarios for three days: 1) skip breakfast, 2) Consume three regular meals in the day and 3) skip the evening meal. Total calories and carbohydrate, protein and fat intake did not differ in each of the three scenarios.

For each of the three days, the researchers analyzed multiple blood samples (collected between 7 am and 9 pm) to measure hormone levels, sugar and insulin, as well as the activity of the immune cells of the participants .

The results of the analyzes indicated that the omission of breakfast and evening resulted in a higher calorie burn in 24 hours (41 and 91 extra calories respectively) compared to three meals, a finding consistent with the results of other similar studies.
There were no differences in the three levels of sugar and insulin levels at 24-hour level, however insulin and inflammation and insulin resistance indicators were increased after lunch on the morning's missed day.

Also, the omission of breakfast seemed to increase the levels of fat oxidation in the body, which led to a greater breakdown of accumulated fat. This may sound good, but the researchers point to a significant disadvantage, indicating a malfunction in so-called "metabolic flexibility", that is, the body's ability to alternately use carbohydrates and fat for energy production. This process, they say, "can in the long term lead to low-grade inflammation and dysfunction in glucose homeostasis [note: the balance of insulin and glucagon to maintain blood sugar levels]".
The scales therefore seem to be in favor of eating breakfast, since extra calorie burning is probably not worth it if it is to risk negative consequences for our body over time.