Skip breakfast and risk diabetes

Posted on Sun, 27 May 12

You need to eat more to loose weight, at least that’s what studies linking skipping breakfast to weight gain suggest, and now you can add a lower risk of diabetes to your breakfast menu.

Although skipping breakfast has been linked to problems such as weight gain and reduced cognitive function in children few studies have explored the relationship to risk of type 2 diabetes.

In an analysis of the eating patterns of some 30,000 men over 16 years it was found that men who ate 3 times a day (breakfast eaters) had a lower risk of diabetes than men who only ate 1-2 times daily (1).

There is a rational reason why skipping your morning meal might increase your diabetes risk; a good breakfast tends to stabilise your blood sugar throughout the day (2).

References:

1. Mekary RA, Giovannucci E, Willett WC, van Dam RM, Hu FB. Eating patterns and type 2 diabetes risk in men: breakfast omission, eating frequency, and snacking.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Mar 28. [Epub ahead of print]

2. Giovannini M, Agostoni C, Shamir R. Symposium overview: Do we all eat breakfast and is it important? Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010 Feb;50(2):97-9.