Study: Skipping breakfast linked to Type 2 diabetes

Growing up, your mother probably insisted that breakfast was the most important meal of the day.

According to a recent study, mom may be right.

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The study looked at data on 96,175 people to see if skipping breakfast had an impact on their health.

"What they found was that the more people skipped breakfast -- the more days a week -- the higher their risk of Type 2 diabetes," said Cleveland Clinic wellness expert Michael Roizen, M.D., who did not take part in the study. 

In fact, researchers found that just one day of skipping breakfast was associated with a 6 percent increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in comparison with people who never skipped their morning meal.

And the risk rose with each additional day that breakfast was skipped, to as high as 55 percent, if a person skipped breakfast four to five days per week.

Roizen said it’s best to eat your carbs at breakfast because the morning is the time when your body is the most insulin sensitive.

He suggested people think of breakfast as the new dinner in order to avoid a spike in blood sugar later in the day.

To get the most out of your metabolism, Roizen recommends eating most of the day’s calories during the daylight hours and not late into the evening.

"Eat only when the sun is out or when the sun is supposed to be out," he said. "Eat more early, eat less later and don’t stereotype food -- you can eat ‘dinner’ food for breakfast."

More than 100 million Americans are living with diabetes or prediabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Complete results of the study can be found in The Journal of Nutrition.