Published in the Journal of Nutritional Science, the study found that yes, skipping breakfast can lead to weight loss, but it can have a negative impact on cholesterol. The study found skipping breakfast can lead to elevated cholesterol levels.
Some people even experience headaches, blood sugar dips, faintness and difficulty concentrating when they skip breakfast. Studies suggest that eating breakfast can also help keep blood sugar and blood pressure levels steady and improve cholesterol levels, provided you select healthy options (not pastries and donuts).
“Prolonged fasting,” she says, “leads to increases in diastolic and systolic blood pressure, blood concentrations of insulin, triglycerides, free fatty acids and LDL-cholesterol, and to decreases in blood concentrations of HDL-cholesterol.” These are all the textbook risk factors for major heart trouble.
While some research suggests that skipping breakfast is not harmful, other research suggests otherwise. Eating regular meals and snacks, including breakfast, allows for more opportunities throughout the day to give the body the energy and nutrients it needs to function optimally.
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a higher prevalence and incidence of cardiometabolic risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, unfavorable lipid profiles, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome in people who skip breakfast, which may ultimately contribute to increased risk of CVD [15,16,17].
Breakfast has become the most common option for people to skip when following some form of time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting. People tend to find it easiest because generally, it's the meal commonly taken at a time of hurry, as you rush out the door in the morning.
Intermittent fasting affects cholesterol levels due to the change in metabolism from glucose to ketones. When this occurs, the body begins using lipids rather than storing them. Lipids move out of the cells, travel in the bloodstream, and go into the liver to be made into ketones.
The thinking was that testing in a fasting state would allow a more accurate and reliable reading due to food's effect on lipid levels. But that thinking has changed. A 2016 study by researchers at Harvard Medical School revealed that cholesterol levels did not vary significantly between fasting and nonfasting states.
If you skip breakfast, you're depriving your body of nutrients it needs to get up and go—specifically, blood sugar to power your muscles and brain. Plus, your metabolism moves faster at the beginning of the day than at the end, and you need a certain amount of nutrients each day to keep your body running in peak form.
Those who regularly eat breakfast generally have healthier eating habits than those who skip out. Eating a nutritious breakfast fills our bodies up with vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, calcium and iron. You might be missing out on the extra dose of these vitamins and minerals if you don't eat three meals a day.
Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods
Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, Brussels sprouts, apples and pears. Soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your LDL cholesterol.
Chicken eggs are an affordable source of protein and other nutrients. They're also naturally high in cholesterol. But the cholesterol in eggs doesn't seem to raise cholesterol levels the way some other foods, such as those high in trans fats and saturated fats, do.
Keeping LDL cholesterol levels low is important, as it decreases the risk of heart disease and stroke. A person can do this by maintaining a healthy diet that includes high-fiber fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fatty fish, unprocessed soy, and the occasional dark chocolate treat.
A person can combat high cholesterol by exercising regularly. Forms of exercise that help a person lower their total and LDL cholesterol levels include walking, running, cycling, and swimming. Often, these exercises can also help raise the levels of a person's HDL cholesterol.
Though brewed coffee does not contain actual cholesterol, it does have two natural oils that contain chemical compounds -- cafestol and kahweol -- which can raise cholesterol levels. And studies have shown that older coffee drinkers have higher levels of cholesterol.
Lisa Matzer: Stress is known to increase cholesterol levels and in particular the bad LDL cholesterol. The amount of stress in your life isn't as important as how you deal with it. The more anger and hostility that stress produces in you, the higher (and worse) your LDL and triglyceride levels tend to be.
A sudden increase in cholesterol can result from various factors, such as stress, diet, certain medications, pregnancy, and lifestyle habits, including smoking and drinking coffee or alcohol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance in cells.
Skipping breakfast and eating a late dinner tends to increase hunger levels and decrease daily average calorie burn, according to a small study published October 4, 2022, in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The Benefits
Eating lunch raises your blood sugar level in the middle of the day, which gives you the energy you need for the rest of the day. It also enables you to focus and concentrate on the rest of the afternoon.
You should eat within the first hour of waking to get your body primed for a successful day. Between 6 and 10 a.m. would be the ideal time to take this first meal, mainly so that you set yourself up for a second meal a few hours later. What you eat at breakfast has a large impact on the rest of the day.