Can skipping breakfast make you gain weight?

So, the age old question, can skipping breakfast make you gain weight? Here’s the nitty gritty on not breaking your fast.

There are numerous reasons why many of us skip breakfast on a daily basis. Some of us believe it will help us to lose weight, others are not hungry and the majority of us have such busy schedules that we simply don’t have the time to fill our tummies in the morning. As one of the most important meals of the day skipping breakfast can starve the body of much needed nutrients we require for the day ahead and we may be doing more harm than good. ‘Skipping breakfast throws off the normal circadian rhythm of fasting and feeding. Breakfast is the worst time to skip a meal,’ said Dr David Ludwig, a nutrition expert at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston. So how can skipping breakfast cause weight gain? Here are some of the reasons:

Increased hunger throughout the day
Skipping breakfast in the morning can lead to increased food intake later in the day during lunch and dinner. It has been reported that if you eat a healthy balanced breakfast you are less likely to overeat throughout the day, which can result in obesity. By missing breakfast our bodies may experience constant hunger signals causing us to eat more than we need, along with the risk of us making bad food choices when it comes to meal time.

Cravings for fatty and sugary foods
Research has shown that those who skip breakfast are more inclined to crave sugary and fatty foods during the day, which can lead to weight gain. A study conducted at Imperial College London used 21 subjects to conduct an experiment into the fact that fasting can bias the brain’s reward systems towards high-calorie foods. On the day where the participants skipped breakfast there was on average a 20% increase in the amount of food they consumed during their lunchtime meal. On top of this the desire for higher calorie food (such as chocolates, desserts, cakes, pizzas and burgers) increased too. Tony Goldstone (MD, PhD, a consultant endocrinologist with the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College London) states ‘When people skip meals, especially breakfast, changes in brain activity in response to food may hinder weight loss and even promote weight gain.’

Blood Sugar Inconsistency
Skipping the first meal of the day can also have an effect on the blood sugar levels in your body. When you skip meals your blood sugar levels fall and this inconsistency can make it difficult for your body to metabolise food leading to weight gain. Eating at regular intervals will keep your metabolic rate up and prevent the body going into starvation mode where it expends fewer calories.