Why Skipping Breakfast Makes You Put On Weight

"Eat less and you will lose weight," the saying goes.

Many of us believe that skipping meals is the best way to eat less, and hence lose weight.

Breakfast is the most common meal missed by most people. 9-5 workers, busy mums, students... we never seem to have time for breakfast.

Besides, you might think, if you skip breakfast you will also lose weight in the process, right?

Wrong.

Skipping breakfast actually causes the body to gain weight, not lose weight. Here is how:

1. Skipping breakfast slows down your body's metabolism so it begins to store fat

 

Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories, or fat.

The higher your metabolism, the more energy you burn. The lower your metabolism, the less energy you burn.

A car driving at 70mph is going to use up more fuel than a car driving at 20mph.

But the car engine must first be switched on to start burning fuel. Even if a car is standing still with its engine running, it is still burning fuel.

In the same way, breakfast to the body is like switching on the engine of a car.

After a night of fasting without food, the body's metabolism is slow. The body tries to preserve its energy by storing fat.

However, when you eat breakfast, you "switch on" your body's metabolism and begin to burn calories and fat.

When you skip breakfast, your body thinks it is still fasting from a night of no food so it continues to store fat. That is how regularly skipping breakfast makes you put on weight.

A study earlier this year conducted by Osaka University, Japan, and published in The International Journal of Obesity found that children who skipped breakfast were 18-116% more likely to be overweight or obese than children who ate breakfast.

2. Skipping breakfast causes you to (binge) eat more throughout the day

The longer your body goes without food, the more your body craves food.

A 2017 study by the University of Hohenheim, Germany, found that adults who skipped breakfast consumed more calories throughout the day than those who ate breakfast.

Raw honey porridge, which is porridge oats sweetened with raw honey, is one of the healthiest breakfasts than you can start your day with. Here are four reasons why:

a) It is bursting with vitamins and minerals from both the oats and raw honey

b) It has a low glycemic index, which keeps you full for longer and limits your food cravings.

c) Oats are a good source of soluble fibre, which lowers cholesterol and regulates blood sugar.

d) Raw honey is full of living nutrients and enzymes that tune your body's digestive system

Our Raw Organic Rivera Gum Honey from Uruguay and Raw Organic Rainforest Honey from Brazil are the two honeys we most recommend for mixing into warm porridge.

References:

1. Okada, Chika et al. “Association between skipping breakfast in parents and children and childhood overweight/obesity among children: a nationwide 10.5-year prospective study in Japan.” International Journal of Obesity (2018): 1-9.

2. Nas, Alessa & Mirza, Nora & Hägele, Franziska & Kahlhöfer, Julia & Keller, Judith & Rising, Russell & Kufer, Thomas & Bosy-Westphal, Anja. (2017). Impact of breakfast skipping compared with dinner skipping on regulation of energy balance and metabolic risk. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 105. 10.3945/ajcn.116.151332.