Skipping Breakfast May Be Linked To Poor Heart Health, Study Says (theguardian.com)

A new study says that skipping breakfast could be linked to poorer cardiovascular health. The findings reveal that, compared with those who wolfed down an energy-dense breakfast, those who missed the meal had a greater extent of the early stages of atherosclerosis -- a buildup of fatty material inside the arteries. The Guardian reports: The research is part of a larger study that will follow the participants over a decade or more to see how disease in the arteries progresses. Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the research looked at the health and diets of 4,052 middle-aged bank workers, both men and women, with no previous history of cardiovascular disease. At the start of the study, which is partly funded by the Spanish bank Santander, participants completed a detailed questionnaire into what they had eaten and when over the previous 15 days. Body mass index, cholesterol levels and other measures were collected, together with data including the participants' smoking status, educational attainment and level of physical activity. Imaging techniques were used to track the extent of the early, sub-clinical stages of atherosclerosis in six arteries, including those around the heart, thighs and neck. The results reveal that, compared to those tucking into more than 20% of their daily calories at breakfast, those who consumed next to nothing for breakfast had a greater extent of atherosclerosis.

Comments

Intermittent fasting

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm... this is interesting.

>Participants who skipped breakfast had the greatest waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, blood lipids and fasting glucose levels.

I skip breakfast (i'm on 12/12 intermittent fasting schedule) and I'm fit, healthy BMI, no high blood pressure. Dunno about glucose, but I'm also on low carb diet, so it should never really skyrocket.

>Participants who skipped breakfast were more likely to have an overall unhealthy lifestyle, including poor overall diet, frequent alcohol consumption and smoking. They were also more likely to be hypertensive and overweight or obese.

I think this pretty much excludes all of us who intentionally fast. i believe more research is required, it could be that fasting + high carb diet ("normal" western diet) is really bad (which would make sense due to sugar spikes), not intermittent fasting itself!

Re: Intermittent fasting

[Anonymous Coward]

I did intermittent fasting and I went hyperglycemic. According to my doctor, the fasting caused my liver to convert a lot of fat into sugar, I lost 25kg in 3 years, which caused me to become diabetic. Now I need to take meds that will cause my liver to produce more insuline, meaning that it will try to get me fat again, I have to fight hard to loose weight, in fact I've given up on loosing weight by eating less and instead I am working on increasing muscle mass instead.

I will say this: It seems you should be looking for a new doctor.

1- Hyperglycemia is not something that would have been caused by intermittent fasting unless you were a type 1 diabetic to begin with.
2- Your doctor said that fasting caused your body to convert fat into sugar, which is not what happens, the large amount of calories during a fast come from fatty acids which are converted into ketones. Ketones have caloric energy which is on the order of 28 times that of carbohydrates. Granted stored triglycerides within the body have a glycerol backbone which can be metabolized into a limited amount of glucose, but that is not what your body is "running off of" if that happens, much more calories will be coming from fatty acid metabolism. A simple way for your doctor to have determined this would have been with a fasting test of your ketones.
3- You said you have to take meds to make your liver produce insulin? Did your doctor tell you that? Insulin is produced in the pancreas by beta cells. The liver converts glucose into a storage form called Glucagon, and can convert it back into glucose upon demand among many other things. Insulin comes from the pancreas though, not from the liver. Your liver is not going to "Try to make you fat" it is simply processing what you give it to process into fuel and waste products.

4- Lots of people feel they have to fight hard to lose weight, While this may take a lot of effort, the main thing is keeping your insulin level as low as possible so that the exercise you are able to do is fueled by stored body fat in a slight (usually about 10%) caloric deficit. Trying to go faster than losing a pound or two per week will throw you into a mode that will cause blood sugar fluctuations in the short term but in the long term if you don't overdo it you will lose weight from body fat. (provided you don't have type 1 diabetes and need to inject insulin which is a problem whose cause is unrelated to what you have eaten in general, we don't really know if there are food or toxins or infections that cause type 1 diabetes in susceptible people , finding a combination of things like that is statistically difficult and probably is a dead end in terms of research.)

I would say you should find another doctor because your doctor does not seem to understand how the body works.

Re:Question

[ls671]

Anyway, I almost pass out sometimes around 5 PM when I forget to eat breakfast. Since I will be 82 in a few weeks, it is understandable although. I am sorry, I guess that what I am trying to say is that maybe I should have eaten you for breakfast when that happens. Better than nothing I guess...

I am truly sorry again dear glazed donut,

Re:Question

[Anonymous Coward]

People with a genetic makeup of primarily agricultural heritage don't fare as well with ultra-low carb diets as those with a more nomadic heritage. While most people can cut nearly all of their carb intake and probably gain health benefits, there are genetic dispositions that limit the lower healthy amount of carb consumption.

In general, you need to be careful about blanket statements about diet. With the advent of cheap genetic sequencing, we're starting to find a correlation between an optimal diet and genes. Seemingly, personalized optimal diets can vary quite a bit, but more info to come over the next decade as this research avenue gets more attention.