Is Skipping Meals Healthy? OR, Is There Any Side Effect of Skipping Meals?
We got ALL the facts, so keep reading…
When you are trying to lose weight it is necessary to burn more calories than you intake.
In order to so, instead of burning more calories, people tend to consume less, this is not the same.
The amount of minimum nutrients a body need is necessary to consume.
Every living organism in this universe needs some basic energy level to survive.
If minerals and vitamins are not consumed at an optimum and balanced level, it can be really dangerous for one’s health.
The food we take gives us energy, physical as well as mental, to thrive throughout the day. Therefore, it is essential that you have a proper meal.
Are you looking to lose that fat? OR,
Are you skipping your meals to be more efficient in your program?
OR,
Are there any ill effects of skipping meals?
If you are wondering about any of this then you are at the right place.
We will give you a detailed study on whether skipping meals is healthy or detrimental.
Skipping Meals On A Regular Basis
It’s common among people to skip either of the meals with phrases like “I was Busy” OR “Did not get time to eat” OR “did not notice it was lunchtime yet” etc.
You may even manage to eat a little at breakfast and will probably think about how effective it would be for your workout routine.
Well, then you must understand how skipping meals regularly might affect your health.
You might skip a meal once thinking you will compensate it by consuming more in the next meal.
But it can prove harmful for your health. We will discuss all it the side effect of skipping meals in this blog.
However, let us first discuss what skipping meals imply.
What Happens If You Skip Dinner?
Firstly, it is important to know that the brain runs on glucose the whole day. If enough amount of glucose is not provided it may start malfunctioning.
When you do not consume optimally your blood sugar level decreases implying your glucose level decreases.
Therefore, you might lose your focus when you skip meals on a regular basis.
Due to low glucose levels, you may get tired easily. You will also feel low and annoyed due to fatigue. Overall, metabolism will decrease.
Therefore, in order to boost stamina, the body will crave food and you might end up overeating, which is again an unhealthy habit.
Overeating causes obesity, therefore you might actually end up gaining weight instead of losing it.
Therefore if you are pondering whether skipping meals on a regular basis healthy or unhealthy, then your answer is obvious now.
Let us now discuss the side effect of skipping meals in a more comprehensive manner.
Side Effect of skipping meals
#1: Obesity goes hand in hand
The common reason why people start skipping meals is that they want a calorie deficit diet.
Nevertheless, they fail to think of its paradoxical impact on your weight.
Yes, you heard it right. Skipping meals might even give a nudge to your obesity.
As explained earlier, when you skip meals on a regular basis, the cells in your body might start to die; therefore they go on a survival mode.
Here, the start craving for glucose with double intensity.
Therefore, when you consume less, your body is a defense mechanism that will force you to overeat, and that becomes one of the major reasons for obesity.
Therefore, if you want to skip meals then you can say goodbye to your weight loss program.
#2: Being grouchy and Anxiety is a consistent companion
Skipping meals is actually one of the reasons that teenagers experience a higher level of anxiety.
When you skip a meal, your blood sugar level decreases, in turn, the body produces a hormone called cortisol.
It helps in regulating the sugar level in the blood.
However, the major problem with cortisol is that it is associated with stress.
When you skip any of your meals you actually feel more anxious depressed or irritable or annoyed.
Also when you eat less than you always consume it is bound to make you cranky. Hunger and anger become a constant mood for you.
It will make you crave something junk and in fact, speed up your way towards obesity. Therefore, feeling testy becomes incessant.
#3: Metabolism and Energy levels are always stunted
Isn’t it obvious that if you consume less you are bound to feel tired?
Consuming fewer calories means your body is not getting enough energy it needs.
This way body starts converting all the stored fat into energy which is associated with nausea, fatigue, tiredness, and depression.
When you feel low on energy, the brain is signaling you through tiredness that it’s time to charge up your body otherwise you might shut down any time.
Consuming less reduces your stamina and this will make it even harder to go through your daily workout regime, as well as your mundane routine.
#4: Blood sugar level – Side Effect of Skipping Meals
When you skip a meal, it is obvious you will feel hungrier at the next meal. You will try to compensate it by eating more.
This process leads to fluctuations in your blood sugar level.
When you consume less level of sugar in circulation is obviously low. However, the moment you start overeating in the next meal, it is to spike up your blood sugar level.
These constant and regular fluctuations in blood sugar levels are really detrimental to your health.
When your blood sugar level is high you might feel energized and hyperactive. When your blood sugar level is low it might result in fatigue or a depressed mood.
Low blood sugar level can also be referred to as hypoglycemia.
These in many worst cases lead to seizures, unconsciousness, or brain damage too.
#5: Digestion Issues – Side Effect of Skipping Meals
People who often skip meals might also suffer from digestion issues.
For good digestion, it is significant that you take a nutrient-rich diet timely.
IF you don’t listen to your body, your body is bound to retaliate to it.
The stress hormone released due to low blood sugar levels can originate from digestive issues, like constipation or diarrhea.
Also even if you skip meals, your stomach is still releasing all the digestive juices, which are acidic in nature.
Therefore skipping meals for a long time might actually result in ulcers, gas, and acid reflux.
This may cause immense pain in your stomach.
#6: Eating Disorder – Side Effect of Skipping Meals
It is scientifically proven people with skipping meal habits are at a higher risk of facing an eating disorder.
If you don’t take care of your body, the body won’t take care of yourself.
Some people try to punish themselves by not eating, sometimes because they ate something filled with fat earlier.
This is unhealthy in nature, physically as well as mentally.
Skipping meals regularly can lead to eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, or orthorexia.
It can affect you mentally, you might even zone out in between a conversation.
#7: You might not be able to differentiate between being hungry and full
Like every other thing, feeling hungry or full is dependent upon our hormones.
A hormone called leptin is responsible for making you feel full; it decreases your appetite when you are full.
Likewise, a hormone called ghrelin is responsible for making you feel hungry.
These hormones can easily be thrown away if you don’t use them for the purpose they are present in your body.
If you are bull-headed in following your diet without listening to these hormones, soon you might not be able to differentiate between what being hungry feels like and what being full feels like.
This is one of the major side effect of skipping meals.
Also, savoring each bite plays an equally important part in consumption.
Eating food is not just a necessity or a duty you need to fulfill.
It is consumed for energy as well as for pleasure.
It is necessary to open all your senses and practice mindful eating for better digestion, keeping all work-related stress and distractions aside.
#8: Lost focus
Concentrating becomes harder when you skip meals. It is because your brain needs glucose to work.
Consuming less gives a direct reason for the brain to not function properly.
Therefore, people skipping meals might find it hard to concentrate on their work and might lose focus easily and zone out regularly.
This will harm your efficiency and productivity.
#9: Keeping up with your weight loss program might fail
You might fail in keeping with your workout and diet plans in long run.
With irregularity and uncertainty involved in the consumption of food, will affect your metabolism in long run and will reduce your overall stamina.
This will surely reduce your calories, but when looked through a wider perspective unhealthy eating habits will lead to obesity and weight gain.
#10: You might even lose your Glow
Our body needs to be fed and be nourished properly for good health.
You might try all chemicals you want to enhance your skin but you can glow permanently only if you nourish your skin internally.
The only way to provide nourishment to your skin is good eating habits.
Eat properly and you will find your skin naturally firm and glowing.
One major side effect of skipping meals is dullness. You might even notice grey hair, dark circles, thinner and somber texture in your skin.
These were some of the major side effect of skipping meals.
Therefore believe me you don’t want to lose weight by skipping meals.
Because ironically you will gain weight and lose all other good features of your body.
Now you must know what type of diet you should follow which might help you reduce your weight.
Therefore let’s discuss that.
Three Meal Diet
Three meal diets are the normal diet we follow which includes, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
This three-meal diet has been going long in our culture and tradition.
It has been practiced by our ancestors and we still do it because it is healthy.
However, new Diet plans ensuring weight loss have crowded people’s opinion. It is important to have an explicit gap between meals.
Recent studies have shown how snacking regularly in small amounts have actually led to obesity. Therefore, it is recommended not only be dieticians but also our ancestors how a Three meal diet might be perfect.
Having a three-meal diet actually helps in weight loss. It gives you a feeling of satiation after every meal.
You get constant energy throughout your day and there are enough gaps to drain your energy levels.
Fewer calories are consumed. It also helps in mindful eating.
However, some people find it healthy to skip dinner on a three-meal diet.
Skipping dinner is assumed to help in losing weight.
However, are you sure skipping dinner is healthy? Is it bad to skip dinner?
Well, the answer to your question is yes. It is unhealthy to skip dinner.
Let’s discuss some of the side effects of skipping dinner.
Skipping Dinner Side Effects
It is believed that the dinner you eat should be light. Therefore, some people prefer not to consume dinner at all.
When you don’t consume your dinner there becomes a larger gap between the last meal and the next which can lead to many ill effects.
Therefore, let’s discuss why skipping dinner is not a healthy choice.
- You will start your day with low energy and low stamina. Therefore, you won’t be able to exercise properly because of a lack of energy.
- Due to the excess gap between meals, your sugar level will lower and therefore you will lose concentration. It will be hard to focus on work.
- Due to a large gap between meals you might over eat-in breakfast which is the unhealthiest thing.
Therefore, if you think skipping dinner might actually help you, you are wrong.
A three meal diet itself will help you reduce weight if combined with regular exercise.
If you want to keep your body fit and strengthens your muscle growth stick to a three-meal diet.
Conclusion | Side Effect of Skipping Meals
We have given you a detailed study on the side effect of skipping meals.
How it is detrimental to your health and how it can lead to something worse.
Therefore it is recommended to not skip meals, follow a proper three-meal diet, keep a check on your calorie intake, eat sufficiently and you will find your productivity to increase.
Therefore, avoids such myths to skip meals for an effective weight loss routine.
Eat properly for a better workout and efficient performance throughout your day.