Skipping breakfast may raise diabetes risk

Eating breakfast every day may help overweight women reduce their risk of diabetes, a small new study suggests. When women skipped the morning meal, they experienced insulin resistance, a condition in which a person requires more insulin to bring their blood sugar into a normal range, explained lead researcher Dr.0 Elizabeth Thomas, an instructor of medicine at the University of Colorado. This insulin resistance was short-term in the study, but when the condition is chronic, it is a risk factor for diabetes, (HealthDay News) website quoted Thomas as saying. "Eating a healthy breakfast is probably beneficial," Thomas said. "It may not only help you control your weight but avoid diabetes." The new study included only nine women. Their average age was 29, and all were overweight or obese. Thomas measured their levels of insulin and blood sugar on two different days after the women ate lunch. On one day, they had eaten breakfast; on the other day, they had skipped it. The women's insulin and glucose levels after lunch were much higher on the day they skipped breakfast than on the day they ate it. On the day they did not eat breakfast, Thomas explained, "they required a higher level of insulin to handle the same meal."