[리얼푸드=육성연 기자] There are many people who cannot eat their meals on time due to busy work or diet. Skipping meals may seem simple, but it can have negative consequences for our body. Food supplies our body with energy, so everything is affected, including our physical and mental health.
If you don’t eat, your brain cells will also change… cognitive decline
A study on the effect of changes in the brain if repeated and long-term skipping meals was published in an international scientific journal with world authority in the field of psychiatry. According to a study published in Biological Psychiatry last May, the brains of 685 female patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), aka anorexia nervosa, and the brains of healthy female controls were compared and analyzed. showed a significantly reduced cortical thickness.
This might mean loss of brain cells or a lack of connections between brain regions, which might affect our cognitive functions, such as thinking, making decisions, and planning. The researchers said, “When nutrients are insufficient, our body can use the water and fat, muscle and bone already stored in the body, as well as reduce the size and amount of brain nerve cells.” Of course, these changes can be reversed by consuming enough nutrients.
Annoyed and stressed… Changes in mental health
Mental health as well as cognitive function are affected. A study from the University of Alicante, Spain, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2018) of 527 Spanish adolescents, found that students who skipped breakfast had a relatively high level of stress. Depressed feelings were higher over this. If we don’t eat for too long, our body’s blood sugar drops and the body sends a signal to start producing the cortisol hormone (stress hormone).
Eat more refined carbohydrates like sugar… binge eating
If you don’t eat for a long time, your appetite for sugary foods or refined carbohydrates also increases along with physical symptoms such as constipation, nausea, and lack of energy. If the appetite increases, it is easy to lead to eating disorders such as bulimia.
It also interferes with weight management. Park Cho-rong, a nutritionist at Busan 365mc, said, “If you eat irregularly, such as eating one meal a day following starving all day, the insulin hormone balance is disturbed, making it difficult to suppress your appetite, and fat is easily stored.” It can increase your chances of gaining weight and experiencing the yo-yo phenomenon.”
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