A new study showed that skipping breakfast and heart disease are related. The study involved 6550 adults in the US, aged 40 to 75. Over a period of 18.8 years 2,318 deaths occurred. Of these 619 deaths were due to cardiovascular disease.
Questionnaires determined that 5.1% never had breakfast; 10.9% ate breakfast infrequently; 25% ate breakfast sometimes; and 59% consumed breakfast every day. The study found that when people skipped breakfast frequently or always there was a higher risk of death from heart attacks or strokes.
More details re. missing breakfast causes cardiovascular deaths
This risk was independent from socioeconomic status, cardiovascular risk factors or body mass index. The researchers wrote: “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first prospective analysis of skipping breakfast and risk of cardiovascular mortality”. One of the limitations of the study was that they did not record what the clients ate for breakfast. When persons skipped breakfast, they were more likely to be obese, had cholesterol and triglyceride level increases, had type 2 diabetes, blood pressure increases, heart disease and metabolic syndrome.
Comments about the study
- Krista Varady, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois, Chicago, was not part of the study. She commented: “However, the major issue is that the subjects who regularly skipped breakfast also had the most unhealthy lifestyle habits. Specifically, these people were former smokers, heavy drinkers, physically inactive, and also had poor diet quality and low family income.”
- It also matters very much what people are snacking when they do not eat breakfast. Typically it might be a hamburger or other another unhealthy snack. Generally people eat too many refined carbs like sugar. They also eat too many starchy foods that break down into sugar and cause an insulin reaction. You repeat this over and over again, and it will cause diabetes, high blood pressure, fat accumulation and cardiovascular disease. This eventually leads to heart attacks and strokes.
Skipping Breakfast And Heart Disease
Conclusion
Not having breakfast is a major independent risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. This in turn can cause sudden deaths from heart attacks or strokes. The study discussed here has examined this on 6550 adults in the US, aged 40 to 75 over a period of 18.8 years. 619 deaths were found to be due to cardiovascular disease and were linked to not eating breakfast. A research team has finally confirmed the old story of grandma telling her grandchildren to eat their breakfast to stay healthy.
