Benefits of Breakfast for Diabetes

Breakfast is the most commonly skipped meal, but is that something that we need to change? We’ve all heard 100 times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is it really? Read on to learn about the benefits of breakfast for those with diabetes.

Studies have shown that people who skip breakfast tend to eat fewer calories throughout the day, BUT they also tend to have a higher BMI (weight to height ratio). How is that possible? We’ll explain a little later.

There was a study published in 2021 that showed that your blood sugar response to a meal varies according to your circadian rhythm.

The circadian rhythm is the body’s natural clock. It’s what makes you feel tired at night and what gets you up in the morning. It includes physical, mental, and behavioral patterns throughout a 24-hour cycle.

Anyway, this study showed that the body’s blood sugar levels are different following the same meal depending on what time of day the meal is served.

For example, if you ate a waffle at breakfast versus at night, your blood sugar level response would be lower in the morning than it would be at night.

It also found that when people ate a higher energy breakfast, their glucose levels were lower after their lunch and dinner than if they had skipped breakfast. Interesting, right?

The reason why this all happens is probably because of the other finding of this study: skipping breakfast is associated with disrupted clock gene expression.

Clock genes are the genes that regulate the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm, in turn, optimizes your metabolism depending on your feeding-fasting cycles and the time of day.

It enhances insulin sensitivity, muscle uptake of glucose, and other cellular activities in the early hours of the day. Hence, the metabolism is optimized for food intake (AKA Breakfast) in the morning while it is optimized for sleep and fasting at night.

This information is extremely important for anyone with diabetes! Eating a higher-energy breakfast and a lower-energy dinner can really help people with diabetes to lower their post-meal glucose levels (and A1c levels).

If you don’t have diabetes, this information is still crucial. Why? Not aligning your meal pattern with your circadian rhythm can lead to disrupted clock gene expression, weight gain, and a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

PLUS, another study found that skipping breakfast is significantly associated with a higher hemoglobin A1c level (even after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, race, diabetes complications, insulin use, and percentage of calories consumed at dinner.)

So, What do You Think About Breakfast Now?

Breakfast For Diabetes Summary

-Eating a large breakfast and a smaller dinner are associated with lower A1c levels and lower post-meal glucose levels throughout the day

-Skipping breakfast can dysregulate your clock gene expression

-Skipping breakfast is associated with weight gain

-Skipping breakfast is linked to developing type 2 diabetes