Eating a balanced, hearty breakfast of good nutritional quality is important to avoid developing metabolic syndrome, according to a study by Swedish researchers from the University of Umea published in the specialist journal Public Health Nutrition.
Teenagers who eat a nutrient-poor breakfast are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome in adulthood and therefore increase their risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
The metabolic syndrome is not a disease in itself. Rather, it designates the presence of a set of physiological signs that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cerebrovascular accident (CVA).
We speak of metabolic syndrome when at least 3 of the following risk factors are present: abdominal overweighthigh blood triglycerides, high blood pressure, low “good” cholesterol (HDL) and high blood sugar.
A balanced breakfast helps prevent metabolic syndrome
In 1981, the researchers recruited volunteer students from Lukea who had to fill out a very precise questionnaire on their diet and in particular what made up their breakfast.
27 years later, these volunteers underwent blood tests and researchers compared the nutritional quality of their breakfast and their metabolic syndrome.
The study showed that young people who had neglected the first meal of the day had a 68% higher incidence of developing metabolic syndrome than those who did not. They were therefore more at risk of suffering from cardiovascular disorders, diabetes or stroke.
“Further studies are needed for us to be able to understand the mechanisms involved in the link between poor quality breakfast and metabolic syndrome, but our results and those of several other studies suggest that not eating well at breakfast -breakfast can have a negative effect on blood sugar regulation” explains Maria Wennberg, lead author of the study.
