What happens when you skip dinner? Here’s all that you need to know

Do you often skip dinner? Sleeping on an empty stomach can affect both your body and mental health.
Skip dinner
Skipping dinner stalls weight loss, causes you to lose focus at work. It causes a lot more harm, and that’s why you need to STOP doing it right now! Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Grace Bains Published: 6 Nov 2020, 17:21 pm IST
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There are so many of us, who juggle professional and personal commitments, often at the cost of our dietary and nutritional needs. While skipping meals occasionally might not have an adverse impact on our health, making a habit out of it or going to sleep on an empty stomach will certainly affect your health in many ways. 

To begin with, skipping dinner could lead to nutritional deficiency in your body, since you need micronutrients like magnesium, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3 for daily functioning. And if you continue this practice for long, you put yourself at the risk of becoming malnourished or developing nutritional deficiencies. 

An empty stomach is harmful for your psychological well being, general brain function and decision-making abilities. As per research by The University of North Carolina, the brain runs on glucose, and skipping dinner may decrease your blood sugar levels. If you are irritable, fatigued, or have lack of focus, you know the reason! 

Moreover, contrary to popular belief, an empty stomach may lead to weight gain, as it increases the chances of overeating. That’s because you crave more food than usual, and can cause your metabolism to slow down, hence, reducing your ability to lose weight. 

Skip dinner
Your kitchen is filled with weight loss foods that you can gorge on for dinner. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

The slowing down of metabolism also impacts the muscle gaining abilities of the body. While we sleep, the body goes into repair and restoration mode, and this includes building muscle mass, converting protein to muscle, and repairing damaged tissues. Hence, if the body is deprived of enough nutrients and proteins to repair and restore, then there is a risk of losing muscle mass while sleeping.

Sleep is also impacted, if we skip the dinner, as the body has low insulin levels that will negatively affect your winks. 

Also, read: The ultimate goal for 2020? Never skipping breakfast. And here’s why nutritionists agree

That’s not all — your gastric and digestive health also goes for a toss, as an empty stomach will lead to the development of gas in the stomach due to the action of hydrochloric acid. This can cause a bout of indigestion and stomach irritation.

So ladies, it is important to remember that balance is the key. Eating the right portion for dinner is essential not just for your bodily health, but also for your cognitive abilities!

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About the Author

Grace is someone who likes writing enough to make a living out of it. When she isn’t writing, you will find her having chai and reading a book. ...Read More

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