Is it Okay to Skip Lunch?
Consequences of Skipping Meals: 15 Unknowingly Invited Diseases: Know What Skipping Meals Causes to Body
Disturbed Weight Management and Obesity
A weight-conscious person goes on dieting and imagines a toned body, unaware of the fact that it eventually causes weight gain. When we don’t eat for long, it turns hunger into craving. In this situation, the spicy, peppery, frozen, oily, and fried eatables attract more. Craving leads to overeating and insensible eating. This was we go for more calorie intake, which boosts weight gain.
A person with normal weight and health conditions can skip the lunch (sometimes but not often), but it can cause a problem for a diabetic person and pregnant or breastfeeding lady.
Thoughtful calorie intake is good for health, but cutting calories unthinkingly for weight loss has downsides.
Diabetes
Symptoms
- Metabolism disorder
- Excessive thirst
- Urine production in increasing amount
A body that performs normal functions, the production of insulin remains balanced and the level of insulin changes all the time. Such a body owns an automatic feedback system, that is, it follows the intake of carbohydrates and regulated the balanced level of glucose in bloodstreams.
Diabetic patients take injections to mimic the same process in order to maintain the level of glucose in the blood. This process of keeping the blood sugar level normal or near-normal saves a diabetic person from long-term complications.
Think, what can happen if one misses the meal, and a diabetic misses the dose of insulin? Skipping meals ruins the rhythm of the system; though in case of the occasional skip, you can hop both meals and insulin. Making it a strategy can result in serious consequences.
High Blood Sugar
Symptom
- Circulation of glucose in excessive amount in blood plasma
People, who skip lunch, tend to eat more in the next meal. The hunger then turns to starve and demands more carbohydrates than usual, which fulfills with the supply of grains, sugar, and potatoes. Such eatables increase the level of blood sugar and lead to a high glucose level.
This state results in damaging the small nerves and arteries in the kidneys, brain, feet, eyes, and heart over time. In normal conditions of diabetes, watch out if your blood sugar gets higher than 180 mg/dL in ordinary days and 130 mg/dL in case of fast. Take the record after two hours of eating.
Note: It is a different case if the doctor has set other targets for you to follow.
Instead of skipping the lunches, try to know the other causes of damage and control them by exercising and a healthy diet.
Dipped Blood Sugar Level and Hypoglycemia
Symptom
- An abnormally diminished level of glucose in the blood.
In the absence of regular energy supply through food, the liver starts to realize glucose with the flow of blood around the body, which is provided by the stored glycogen of liver or newly synthesized glycogen from protein. It dips the level of blood sugar, affecting mental performance.
High Blood Pressure
The drop in blood sugar level due to skipping meals makes your body releasing hormones to compensate for a low glucose level. It causes an increase in blood pressure and affects the arteries, making them narrow.
Headache
Symptom
- Pain in head that is continuous
Imbalanced blood pressure increases the chances of hypoglycemia, which can lead to headache migraines.
Nausea and Dizziness
Symptoms
- Inclination of sickness
- Feeling of vomit
Light-headedness, headache, and nausea are some of the warning signs that your body needs food. In the absence of demanded food, a body uses fat to fulfill the need for fuel and starts to break down the muscles. It sounds good if you want to lose weight, but it shows adverse effects on long-term practice, making your body weaker. And a weaker body is never a fit one. Such practice comes with prolonged hypoglycemia, headache, sweating, nausea, and faintness.
Fatigue, Bad Performance, and Depression
Symptoms
- The feeling of over-tiredness after mental or physical exhaustion
- Extreme tiredness or weariness after repetition of stress
A skip of breakfast and lack of drink in midday time can cause fatigue. Refueling on time not only keeps the energy level stable (indeed higher) but also takes less energy to digest.
Researchers say that lunch-skippers turn to bad performers in schools and offices. Further, it causes depression and a lack of self-confidence.
Mental Health Problems and Seizure Disorder
Symptoms
- The need for using force to execute an action
- Sudden illness
- An epileptic fit
When mental health starts to go down, it becomes a sensitive case. Sometimes the abnormal activities of the brain trigger muscular convulsions. The state of altered mental conditions causes such neurological problems. Such a seizure disorder is commonly termed epilepsy.
Sometimes, low blood sugar also causes seizures.
Not only skipped meals, but irregular meals can also trigger this disorder.
Anxiety, Depression and Drained Feeling
Symptoms
- Unease of uncertainty
- Nervousness
- Stress and tension
- Numbness
The Journal of Nutrition reveals a study on skipping lunch, which involved the physicians. The study says that lunch-skippers face irritation, a decrease in patience, frustration, and emotionally drained feeling. It causes a lack of focus, difficulty in concentrating, and a slower pace of making decisions. It results in depression and anxiety.
Acid Reflux, Gastritis, Stomach Pain, Stomach Ulcer, Diarrhea
Symptoms of Acid Reflux
- Burning sensation and pain in the chest
- Burping and nausea
- Upset stomach with a feeling of fullness
- Distressed upper abdomen
- Sore throat, sore mouth, hoarseness, and cough
When we don’t eat and continue being hungry, the stomach produces digestive juices that are acidic in nature. They are released to break down what we eat, but when the stomach is not fed for a long period, the produced juices show their effect, eroding the stomach line. It results in acidity and ulcers, leading to gastroenteritis.
GERD, Indigestion, Gas, and Bloating
Symptoms
- Discomfort and pain in the stomach
- Difficulty in digesting food
- Swollen stomach with food or fluid
(GERD: Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease)
The digestive juice is responsible for the proper functioning of the digestive tract. They work in the form of digestive enzymes and from the chewing process, they kick-start to perform their action. Missing meals not only causes a lack of nutrition but also decreases the formation rate of digestive enzymes. Their insufficient quantity results in poor digestion, triggering gas, and bloating.
Gastro-colic reflex also causes irritable bowel syndrome or diarrhea.
Heartburn
Symptoms
- A feeling of painful burn behind or below the breastbone
- Worsen Situation: Spread of pain from chest to throat and neck
Fatty and greasy food, late-night meals, and large portions trigger heartburn. Do you know skipping meals can also trigger heartburn? The obvious larger meals after ‘no meals’ stretch the belly, making it full. This stuffed feeling and stretched stomach pressurize the LES, the muscle-ring that prevents acids from moving in the wrong direction from the stomach. Sometimes, this too much pressure sends the stomach acids back up to the throat and causes heartburn.
Stinky “Hunger Breath” or Bad Breath or Chronic Breath or Sulfuric Stench
Oh God, may someone close the doors of this stagnant pool!
When you skip meals or keep fast, the chemical reaction of ketoacidosis starts. In this, the body chemicals break down and develop an unpleasant, odd fruity odor.
Second, an empty stomach reduces the amount of saliva production. Saliva helps to flush away the unwanted bacteria in tongue, gums, and teeth; less formation of saliva leads to dry mouth, which results in bad breath. Such mouth becomes a mansion of randy bacteria, who multiply exponentially.
Lozenges and chewing-gums keep the saliva flowing and thus help in eliminating the stinky odor of the mouth. Though, instead of products like chewing gum, it is suggested to take fruits or fennel (Saunf) for getting rid of this problem.
Skipping Meals and Cancer
Some studies have shown that people, who are suffering from heart disease or taking chemotherapy for curing cancer, if skip some meals, then it helps in a better cure. Studies have demonstrated a declined explosion of cancer cells and in their case, the cure rate was higher.
But remember, here intermittent fasting or fasting in alternative days is practiced. Second, it is followed in specific cases and under medical considerations.
- Surprisingly, skipping meals while pregnant can also boost premature labor or miscarriage due to malnutrition.
Eat healthy food to live a healthy life!
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