Skipping Breakfast Could Save Your Life

We've all heard the adage that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Sure, it makes sense that after a long night of restful sleep, the greatest gift one could give themself is a hearty serving of syrup glazed pancakes with a steaming side of scrambled eggs. To the painful chagrin of all the flapjack fans and waffle warriors out there, this is not the case. In fact, delaying the bodacious blend of morning delicacies, you may have been fantasizing about for just a few hours could have profound positive impacts on your body, mind, and lifespan.

Mornings become far simpler without the burden of breakfast preparation and cleanup.

Humans have evolved to endure scarcity. During our species' hunter-gatherer days, before Uber Eats *gasp*, our ancestors often went days without a shred of food, and in turn, they adapted to survive or went to sleep forever. However, for many of us living in this age of culinary modernity and technological innovation, scarcity is an unknown relic of the past. Anyone with a smartphone can have a five-course meal delivered to their door with the push of a button. And while the ever-increasing availability of sustenance represents a significant step towards healing areas of the world suffering from starvation, it has been a curse for some. Consistent eating throughout the day is not a natural feeding pattern for any mammal. Still, the prevalence of such dietary habits in Americans is reflected by the fact that as of 2020, over 40 percent of the US is obese. Given that the primary cause of death worldwide is heart disease, a condition often exacerbated by obesity, America's relationship with food is quite concerning. Luckily, a slight adjustment to the way we view food as a culture might be the panacea we need to get back to our caveman roots and fight off those saber-toothed tigers once more. That solution is called Intermittent Fasting.

Intermittent fasting is an approach to eating that deviates from other popular dieting strategies by emphasizing nutrient timing instead of caloric restriction. There is a panoply of approaches to intermittent fasting, but in principle, it stipulates that you impose consistent temporal limits on when you're allowed to consume food. The most popular, and in my opinion most sustainable, fasting scheme is known as the 16:8 method, which entails an 8-hour eating window followed by a 16 hour fast. In practice, the 16:8 ratio can fall into whichever times are most convenient for the individual. For example, I eat from 1:00-9:00 pm and fast until 1:00 pm the next day. While prolonging your first serving of scrumptious carbohydrates until the afternoon may seem daunting, it quickly becomes nearly effortless. As your body rapidly adjusts to your new, more natural eating schedule, you'll likely find yourself wondering how you ever did things differently. Most people fast for 12 hours each day anyway, and tacking on just a bit more time leads to some incredible benefits for physical and cognitive wellbeing. 

Intermittent fasting forces the human body to become more efficient by depriving it of the constant inflow of food often found in the average American diet. In short order, the digestive system realizes that because there is no food to digest, it needs to tap into energy stores within the body, leading to fat metabolism, also known as ketosis. With consistent and regular fasting, the body takes various actions to optimize its metabolic and cellular functionality. One such adaptation is a boost in metabolism, leading to more calories burned and more potential to shed unwanted body fat. An arguably more significant change is in the effect of fasting on insulin sensitivity. Insulin is the hormone that handles the metabolization of sugar. Many people develop insulin resistance as a result of overindulgence in carbohydrates throughout their day. Insulin resistance decreases the body's ability to digest sugars, leading to higher insulin levels and a greater risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Intermittent fasting has the opposite effect, reducing insulin resistance and boosting insulin sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity results in lower blood sugar, less risk of diabetes, higher capability for fat loss, and a reduced chance of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia. At the cellular level, fasting enhances a process called autophagy. Autophagy is a system the body utilizes to eliminate cellular waste and pathogens. It is essentially the human housekeeping service. The autophagic bolstering triggered by fasting leads to a lower risk of cancer, metabolic disease, neurological ailment, and infectious illnesses. Intermittent fasting is also beneficial to the regulation of hormones, namely its stimulation of increased Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Higher levels of HGH result in a more resilient immune system, stronger bones, enhanced fat burning and muscle development, as well as improved cognition and mood.    

In addition to the compelling empirical evidence supporting intermittent fasting, this eating strategy presents a host of anecdotal merits. With fewer hours of the day occupied by food-related thoughts, you have far more freedom to transcend the foundational levels of Maslow's hierarchy and pursue more meaningful interests. Mornings become far simpler without the burden of breakfast preparation and cleanup, and when the time to eat comes, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find yourself with far more liberty to enjoy every gram of the delectable food you love without an ounce of guilt.