When your car runs out of gas, where can it go?
Nowhere.
Our bodies react the same way when we don't provide them with a proper source of energy.
Here's the science of what really happens to your body when you skip meals.
The Mayo Clinic defines eating disorders as "serious conditions related to persistent
eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions and your ability to
function in important areas of life."
Typically, these disorders "involve focusing too much on your weight, body shape and food,
leading to dangerous eating behaviors."
Skipping meals is one such dangerous behavior.
And, while it's considered a "red flag" if you skip meals, as it could indicate an eating
disorder, it can also be a precursor of anorexia nervosa.
Mike Doehla, a nutrition specialist and founder and CEO of Stronger U Nutrition, explained:
"One skipped meal every now and then leads to a skipped meal every day, which leads to
skipped meals multiple times per day.
At some point anorexia may be diagnosed and the individual would have to undergo treatment
to not only literally save their life, but to then work to repair their relationship
with food."
Skipping just one meal sets off a chain reaction within your body.
Haley Robinson, a clinical dietitian, told Piedmont Healthcare:
"First, your blood sugar decreases, which causes interruption in your ability to think
straight.
The brain uses glucose to run efficiently and if there is not enough glucose for the
brain to use, your body does not function at 100 percent."
Registered dietitian and manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic,
Kristin Kirkpatrick, put it this way when speaking to Seventeen:
"Your brain runs primarily on glucose.
When there isn't enough sugar in your blood to pull from, you lose your ability to focus."
"You you have anything to eat, any kind of snacks around?
I would love, I'm really low blood sugar and..."
This is why it's especially important to eat in the mornings.
Kendra Grinde-Busalacchi, a registered dietitian nutritionist, explained:
"Breakfast is often known as 'breaking the fast' and is important to give the body and
brain the initial fuel to start the day."
According to experts, you should aim to eat within one and a half hours of waking up.
In the absence of food, the body attempts to problem-solve.
Kendra Grinde-Busalacchi explained:
"If the body does not receive this fuel in the morning, it needs to create its own fuel
by releasing blood sugar into the bloodstream, causing blood glucose to increase."
When that happens, your body will start to up its production of cortisol, a stress hormone.
This combo of increased cortisol and a blood sugar spike can actually lead you to feeling
like you've been in a car accident.
Jen Landa, chief medical officer of BodyLogicMD, explained one of the problems with skipping
meals to Daily Burn:
"When you get in a car accident, you need a high amount of sugar in your bloodstream
in case you need to lift a car off your companion.
But the problem is that many are living at 80 percent 'car accident' [mode] all the time,
and having a stress response going on chronically becomes dysfunctional."
We all know the feeling: when you skip a meal, you get jittery and anxious.
On top of that, you'll experience some real-deal crankiness.
"That's it!
I've had it!
… He's a little cranky."
It happens to the best of us, and this uncomfortable response to skipping a meal is all thanks
to a lack of glucose.
Frances Largeman-Roth, registered dietitian nutritionist and author of Eating in Color,
told Prevention:
"Glucose is the number one fuel for our brains so when we don't have it, it can put us in
a very bad mood."
If you've ever waited too long before eating, you know what it's like to be hungry and angry.
There's even a word for it: "hangry."
"Getting a little hangry, huh?
No no no no no, no.
That is such an annoying word.
Don't do that."
At this stage, you may give way to some uncharacteristic outbursts or full-on tantrums.
This is only going to get worse the longer you go without food.
Deena Adimoolam, an assistant professor in New York City, told Health.
"The lower your blood sugar goes, the hangrier you are.
It's our body's defense mechanism to get food ASAP."
"So cranky.
Do you want a juice box and some string cheese?
Do you really have that?"
Weight loss is one of the main reasons people choose to skip meals.
Lindsay Salvatore, a registered dietician at Woodbine Developmental Center in New Jersey,
told The List:
"One of the most common misconceptions about skipping meals is that by skipping meals,
you save on calories and ultimately lose weight.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple."
According to the National Health Service, it is true that to lose weight you have to
reduce your intake of calories — while also upping the calories you burn through exercise.
The organization cautioned:
"But skipping meals altogether can result in tiredness and may mean you miss out on
essential nutrients."
Michael Doehla explained a little more about what happens to muscles when a person chooses
to skip meals.
"Going long periods without any food can [also] cause muscle breakdown, aka catabolism.
Long term damage can be lowered muscle mass, which can increase fat stores, which can lead
to a number of health issues."
Although you may spot some initial weight loss, your body is producing more fat to protect
it against muscle loss.
The process of catabolism is a major part of the larger bodily process known as metabolism.
Although "metabolism" is a word you've probably heard countless times, you may be surprised
to learn just how vital metabolism is for living.
"But what if I told you there was an easy way to reignite your metabolism, and it all
starts in the brain."
In fact, the term is defined as "the chemical processes that occur within a living organism
in order to maintain life."
When you skip meals, the ability to literally maintain life is threatened.
Kristin Kirkpatrick explained to Seventeen how this works, saying:
"Our bodies are programmed to survive at all costs.
It dates back to caveman days: If a caveman was in the forest and all his food ran out,
his body would lower his metabolism — so he wouldn't need as many calories to stay
alive."
This is a fail-safe, of course, but the body can't differentiate between you purposely
skipping breakfast and you not being able to find food at all.
Thus, when you "skip a meal or go a long time without eating," your body is forced into
"survival mode," according to Haley Robinson, a clinical dietitian.
While skipping meals can cause initial weight loss, weight gain is likely to follow.
Clinical dietitian Haley Robinson told Piedmont Healthcare:
"[Survival mode] causes your cells and body to crave food which causes you to eat a lot.
We usually tend to crave unhealthy foods and all attempts at eating healthy go out the
door.
When you are that hungry, anything goes."
"I've been in captivity for three months; there are two things I want to do.
I want an American cheeseburger, and the other...that's not going to happen...is not what you think."
Skipping meals has, indeed, been found to lead to overeating, which also spells weight
gain, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.
Additionally, the American Heart Association has determined that it's common for those
who skip meals during the day to eat larger meals in the evening, which can cause higher
BMIs.
And then there's the issue of not just gaining weight, but fat in particular.
Lindsay Salvatore confirmed to The List:
"When you start to eat normally again, you gain weight in the form of fat.
So you're really setting yourself back."
Although you can probably think of more than a handful of foods that cause bad breath — onions
and garlic, we're looking at you — certain types of diets can also lead to the condition
known as "hunger breath."
Diets that are low in carbs can cause hunger breath due to forcing the body into ketosis,
which is, as doctors Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen explained in an article for The Denver Post,
a quote "chemical reaction that leaves your breath with either an odd fruits-and-nuts
odor (not unlike perfume worn by your least-favorite aunt) or smelling like nail polish remover,
never a come-hither scent."
It's not just low-carb diets that spawn hunger breath, though.
In fact, it's more commonly the result of something else.
The doctors revealed:
"It's usually caused by regularly skipping meals.
Not eating reduces the amount of saliva in your mouth, and a dry mouth is like a Playboy
mansion for randy bacteria that are looking to go forth and multiply.
When they do, they let fly a sulfuric stench."
Yep, skipping meals could ultimately be the reason you have bad breath.
The condition of your hair and skin can speak volumes.
Kristin Kirkpatrick explained to Seventeen:
"Any time you're significantly reducing calories, you're also reducing the essential nutrients
you need to keep your hair shiny and your skin radiant."
Although you may think downing a multivitamin and continuing to skip breakfast daily will
negate the problem, there's no substitute for food.
As the publication stated,
"You'll still be lacking protein, which is pretty much the building block of your prettiest
parts.
(Plus so many vitamins are fat-soluble, which basically means your body can't use them if
you aren't getting enough fat in your diet.)"
Skipping meals, especially breakfast, can also lead to hair loss.
Philip Kingsley, consultant trichologist, told the Daily Mail that not eating enough
protein affects your keratin levels.
Without keratin, your hair will not only become weak, it will stop growing altogether.
For your hair's health, Kingsley said breakfast is a must.
While there are a number of things that can potentially trigger migraines, skipping meals
is a "well-characterized migraine [trigger]," according to a study conducted by the Institute
of Neurological Sciences and Psychiatry in Turkey.
Although it's not known exactly why skipping meals leads to migraines, the researchers
hypothesized that it is related to your body's supply of glucose.
Regardless, the best thing you can do if you suffer migraines from a decision to skip meals
is to, naturally, stop skipping meals.
WebMD suggests pairing eating regularly with getting an adequate amount of rest.
The publication stated:
"Don't plan a day where you won't have time to eat.
Too much or not enough sleep can also bring on a headache.
Be sure to get the right amount."
Although some may skip meals in an ill-advised attempt to lose weight, exercise is another
important component of weight loss as well as healthy living.
And, as it turns out, skipping meals will actually impede your ability to exercise.
Without enough protein, your energy is zapped.
And, without energy, working out becomes difficult if not nearly impossible.
Lauren Harris-Pincus, registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Nutrition Starring
You, told Self:
"Skipping meals doesn't only affect the nutrients you consume, but your ability to exercise
and lead a healthy life."
Missing out on essential calories and nutrients increases a person's sluggishness, reduces
the amount of energy supplied to the muscles, and can even increase the risk for passing
out or injuring oneself, Jacqueline Berning, a registered dietitian and assistant professor
at the University of Colorado, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
As such, athletes will experience poor performance if they skip meals.
Skipping meals can spell a whole lot of trouble for your insides.
Sharecare explained:
"Eating stimulates the reflex that causes waste to move forward in the bowel.
Missing meals decreases this movement."
This creates constipation, and eventually the gut stops working as well as it should.
Although Joanne Arena, a registered dietitian, revealed on her site that constipation is
"one of the biggest complaints" she receives from people who skip meals, it isn't the only
intestinal issue you could experience.
She explained:
"In addition to constipation, lots of people who skip meals and then eat tend to complain
of feeling bloated and gassy, or even having stomach pains."
If you skip meals, you could experience some seriously disastrous consequences to your
belly, your brain, and pretty much everywhere in between.
And when food tastes so good, why take the risk?
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