Breakfast is considered as the first meal that is taken in every morning. Consumption of breakfast is very much important for obtaining a disease free health. Breakfast helps us to break our overnight fasting and it should be consumed daily. Breakfast plays imperative role in improving the energy level of the body whereas it is also associated with reducing the risk of developing hyperglycemia, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Whereas skipping of breakfast is not a healthy choice as it causes various health hazards.   

Below points will give an overview of the harmful effects of skipping breakfast –

Effect on blood sugar level

• There is an intense relation exists between eating habits and health. Proper feeding practice is very much important for obtaining a disease free health and individual who have faulty feeding practice are tend to develop various diseases
• Skipping of breakfast is considered as a vital faulty feeding practice that can affect an individual’s health status in a negative manner
• It has seen that individuals who skip their breakfast are likely to develop diabetes mellitus (type 2) later in life
• Whereas individual who are already suffer from type 2 diabetes mellitus, if they skip their breakfast then they can develop hypoglycaemia too
• So it is better to consume a healthy breakfast for maintaining a healthy blood sugar level

Hinders energy level

• Skipping breakfast is closely related with reducing the energy level of the body as a result increases the catabolic rate of the body
• After overnight fasting everyone should consume a heavy breakfast but if it is not occurred then it provides a bad impact on health and subsequently increases the morbidity and mortality risk

Effects on heart

• It has seen that individual who skip their breakfast have relatively higher risk of developing heart attack. It has estimated that skipping of breakfast increases the prevalence of heart attack by about 27%
• It is thus better to consume a healthy breakfast in order to reduce the susceptibility of heart attack
• On the other hand skipping of breakfast is also responsible for increasing the risk of developing hypertension
• Elevated blood pressure is responsible for developing clogged artery and thus hinders blood flow as a result the supply of oxygen as well as nutrients gets reduced, which severely damages the health. It is mainly accountable for increasing the risk of developing myocardial infarction and stroke
• You have to consume a healthy breakfast for obtaining a well functioning heart and skipping breakfast should be strictly avoided
• Consumption of breakfast especially rich in whole grain cereal products as well as vegetables and fruits are considered as healthy choice for obtaining a good health status

Increase the susceptibility of developing ulcers

• Formation of ulcers are considered as the most vital and painful consequences of skipping breakfast
• Usually it has seen that after consuming dinner we are not consuming any foods till next morning breakfast that means we all fast for almost 10 to 12 hours or we all are in empty stomach for that respective time span
• In empty stomach the hydrochloric acid, which is secreted in the stomach came direct contact to the mucous membrane of the stomach as a result ulceration of the mucous membrane occurred that subsequently develops peptic ulcer or gastric ulcer or gastritis
• It is thus better to break the fasting of 10 to 12 hours with heavy, healthy and nutritious foods so that the risk of developing ulcers can be minimised
• It is always better to consume 6 small meals in a short interval in a day rather than consuming 3 big meals so that the stomach is fulfilled with foods for all the times as a result hydrochloric acid should not came direct contact with the mucous membrane hence does not increase the risk of developing ulcers

Increases the risk of weight gaining

• If you are in a weight reduction diet and you have the habit of skipping breakfast then give it a second thought now because skipping of breakfast will increase your risk of obesity

• It has seen that skipping breakfast increases your craving for fatty and sugary or starchy foods
• Whereas skipping breakfast can also increase your hunger level that ultimately increase your food intake, which ultimately leads to weight gain         

Effects on cognitive functioning

• Consumption of proper and healthy breakfast plays vital role in providing a boost to the overall cognitive functions. It has seen that children who consume healthy breakfast have relatively better cognitive ability than others
• Whereas skipping of breakfast may affect the cognition adversely
• Skipping breakfast is responsible for poor memory too

Increases the risk of developing cancers

• There is a relation between skipping breakfast and increasing the risk of developing cancers
• As mentioned above skipping breakfast is related with increasing the risk of becoming obese and obesity is considered as an important contributory factor of cancer

Induce migraine

• Skipping breakfast is closely related with developing headache and migraine
• It has seen that if anyone skips his or her breakfast then their body start to release hormones, which are responsible for increasing blood pressure that ultimately triggers migraine

• So if you want to keep yourself away from those headache or migraine then you should consume proper breakfast in time
• It is also better to consume small amount of foods in a frequent interval because too much fasting is not wise for health

Effects metabolism

• Just think about a car, if there is no fuel so will the car start? Obviously not similarly if our body does not get sufficient fuel then it also not works properly
• Breakfast is considered as the main fuel that our body receives first in a day and that helps to give the metabolism a jump start

Worsen hangover

• It is better to consume a nourishing breakfast if you consume too much alcohol in previous night because it helps to ward off the hangover
• Hangover is considered as a set of symptoms that develop as the consequences of too much drinking and these symptoms include weakness, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, nausea, irritability, increased blood pressure, stomach pain, anxiety and sweating. These are extremely discomforting and to avoid these types of symptoms it is better to consume a heavy breakfast immediate at next morning
• It is better to consume micronutrients rich breakfast especially an iron rich as well as folic acid rich breakfast for warding off hangover because it helps to compensate the losses of nutrients

Increase hair loss

• It is considered as a vital consequences of skipping breakfast
• Prolong consumption of a diet that is deficient in protein, is responsible for hindering the growth of hair and it also causes alopecia because poor protein intake affects the level of keratin, the protein that helps in producing hair
• Protein plays vital role in promoting the growth of hair follicles, which subsequently improves hair growth
• It is thus better to start your day with a protein rich breakfast that ultimately helps you to get a strong and lustrous hair with zero hair falls
• It helps to make the hair strong as well

All of the above stated complications are the effects of skipping breakfast. So if you want to avoid all of these complications and if you want to obtain a good health then always focus on healthy breakfast consumption

Fujiwara, T. and Nakata, R., 2010. Skipping breakfast is associated with reproductive dysfunction in post-adolescent female college students. Appetite, 55(3), pp.714-717.

Fujiwara, T., Sato, N., Awaji, H., Sakamoto, H. and Nakata, R., 2009. Skipping breakfast adversely affects menstrual disorders in young college students. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 60(sup6), pp.23-31.

Ofori-Asenso, R., Owen, A.J. and Liew, D., 2019. Skipping breakfast and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death: A systematic review of prospective cohort studies in primary prevention settings. Journal of cardiovascular development and disease, 6(3), p.30.

Rani, R., Dharaiya, C.N. and Singh, B., 2021. Importance of not skipping breakfast: A review. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 56(1), pp.28-38.

Thomas, E.A., Higgins, J., Bessesen, D.H., McNair, B. and Cornier, M.A., 2015. Usual breakfast eating habits affect response to breakfast skipping in overweight women. Obesity, 23(4), pp.750-759.