By Hanat Oladele

What is on the brunch menu?

Wait…..

Before that, let me tell you a short story.

“Adam walked out of the doctor’s office looking devastated. He felt as if his whole body weight had been placed on his head. The news Adam received from his doctor would have to be crowned the worst news of his existence. He could still recall how those heavy words – You have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes – rolled off his doctor’s tongue. Type 2 diabetes? His price for skipping the mini start-of-the-day-meal ( breakfast).”

Poor Adam. Back to you! Do you still want to know what is on the brunch menu?

Dear Human,
Why do you skip breakfast?
(There are cereals and leftovers, and you can even order for a reason if cooking is the issue)

This article is not to question your reason for not having breakfast (your choice) but it is written to inform you on what happens to your body when you skip breakfast (definitely not your choice and Adam’s as well).

What Happens to Your Body When You Skip Breakfast?

When you decide to ‘have food later in the day’, you are at risk of having:

Hormonal Imbalance: The body system is a collective workforce that ensures your well-being. Every activity you do, even in the least way, affects the functionality of the body.  The body goes into a form of stress-response mode when breakfast is skipped and this prompts the imbalance of the hormone, Cortisol. This hormone is normally released to help the body kickstart the day, and goes down by eating breakfast but when breakfast is skipped, it stays high in the body inducing stress, anxiety, tiredness and frustration.

Blood Sugar Rise/Type 2 Diabetes: When food is eaten, blood sugar level gently rises and an hormone, insulin is released to help absorb the sugar but when breakfast is skipped, there comes insulin resistance. A situation whereby the body is resistant to insulin. Eating food later in the day makes the blood sugar level rise suddenly and the effects of insulin resistance makes the body unable to absorb the sudden sugar rise. This continuous action over years can lead to a bad condition whereby the body is unable to manage the blood sugar and this condition is called Type 2 diabetes.

Disruption of Metabolism: Metabolism which is the chemical process that occur in the body, deals with the burning, breaking down and absorption of things such as food introduced into the body in order to produce energy. When breakfast is skipped meaning the introduction of food to produce energy into the body for the day is delayed, it slows down the metabolic processes of the body. By slow metabolic process, the body would have low energy to navigate the day. Also when food is eaten later, due to the slow metabolism, the body can find it harder to burn calories and this leads to unwanted fat storage in the body which can prompt many health risks.

Poor Performance: This is the highlight of skipping breakfast. This is so because cortisol has already induced stress and anxiety, and due to slow metabolism, the body has low energy to navigate the day. All of these buildup in poor performance. Most people skip breakfast not out of laziness but to avoid being late to their places of daily activities and this reason for skipping breakfast may prove futile when they get there early but their purpose for going is not met because of the poor performance they put up.

Dear reader, even after reading this, you still want to know what is on the brunch menu?

Well…..

It is breakfast. Eat breakfast and save your health. Do not become another Adam.