​​Watch out!

Three daily meals not only provide energy for human life activities, but also have an impact on health

Recently, a study published in Cancer Causes & Control added new evidence that skipping breakfast is harmful to health

Researchers from Texas Tech University analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1988 to 1994, involving 7007 subjects with an average age of 55.

Through the questionnaire, the researchers collected information about the subjects’ age, gender, race, education, marital status, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and physical activity, and measured the subjects’ height, waist circumference, weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar.

At the same time, the subjects’ dietary information was also counted, including the amount of different foods consumed, total energy intake and frequency of breakfast, etc.

According to the frequency of eating breakfast, the researchers divided the subjects into 3 groups: a daily breakfast group, a sometimes breakfast group (only breakfast on certain days or weekends), and a rarely or never breakfast group

Statistics found that 61% of the subjects eat breakfast every day; 23% of the subjects sometimes eat breakfast; 16% of the subjects rarely or never eat breakfast

The total energy intake of the subjects who ate breakfast every day and those who seldom or never ate breakfast were similar, but the latter’s diet contained a lower proportion of energy from protein and carbohydrates, which came from monosaturated fat.

During an average follow-up period of 22 years, 3573 deaths occurred, of which 795 were related to cancer

After adjusting for the influence of other factors, the researchers found that subjects who sometimes ate breakfast or rarely ate breakfast had a significantly higher risk of all-cause death and cancer death

Compared with subjects who ate breakfast every day, not eating breakfast every day (including sometimes eating breakfast and rarely or never eating breakfast) was associated with a 60% higher risk of all-cause death and a 59% higher risk of cancer death

Specifically, compared with subjects who eat breakfast every day, sometimes eating breakfast is associated with a 52% and 65% increase in the risk of all-cause and cancer deaths respectively; rarely or never eating breakfast is associated with the risk of all-cause and cancer deaths The increase was 69% and 52%, respectively

Since the study is an observational study, it only shows the impact of different frequencies of breakfast on the risk of death, and does not indicate a causal relationship

In addition, the biological mechanism through which the different frequencies of eating breakfast affect the risk of death is still unclear, and further exploration is needed

The study finally pointed out that skipping breakfast is associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cancer-related deaths

One of the corresponding authors of the study, Dr.

Dr.
Marji McCullough, director of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society (ACS), commented that people are very interested in the potential effects of meal times, including the impact of skipping breakfast on metabolism, weight gain, and health outcomes
.
The results of this study should be interpreted with caution
.
More research is needed before reaching the conclusion that eating breakfast will reduce the risk of cancer deaths and all-cause deaths .
"Because people who skip breakfast are more likely to have other unhealthy life>
.
"

"At the same time, there is no conclusive conclusion
about the effect of meal time, frequency and fasting on health outcomes such as cancer .
Until we learn more about it, people without cancer and people with a history of cancer should do their best.
Able to follow the American Cancer Society's diet and physical activity guidelines to prevent the occurrence and death of cancer
.
These guidelines recommend eating a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, restricting red meat and processed meats, and restricting sugary beverages and ultra-processed foods
.
And eating a healthy breakfast helps meet these guidelines
.
” Dr.
McCullough added
.

Reference

[1] Dena Helo, et al.
,(2021).
The association of skipping breakfast with cancer-related and all-cause mortality in a national cohort of United States adults.
Cancer Causes & Control, DOI:10.
1007/s10552-021- 01401-9.

[2] Mike Fillon,(2021).
Skipping breakfast is a bad idea for patients with cancer.
CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, DOI: https://doi.
org/10.
3322/caac.
21691.