Is skipping breakfast or lunch good for your body? Expert weighs in

 Source: https://www.news9live.com/health/health-news

Breakfast is perceived as healthiest meal of the day as compared to other meals. But in today’s busy and hectic life schedule people tend to skip their breakfast in a rush to reach office on time. This also happens with lunch meals, due to lot of pressure at work, we often forget, miss or skip our lunch. But determining the consequences of this is extremely essential.

On the other hand, some people also believe that skipping breakfast or lunch meal may help them lose weight or they may achieve it sooner but in reality what is the truth?

According to a report, it is claimed that skipping breakfast meals may increase the risk of obesity.

In conversation with News9, Vedika Premnani, Clinical Dietician, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai said, “Breakfast” is the breaking of your nightly fast, so, in theory, this break can happen any time of day. The way your body responds to organised eating timings can vary widely depending on your sleep patterns, hunger pangs and how high your energy demands are early in the day. If consumed correctly, it provides you with sufficient fuel to get through the day, focus and mood. Many studies suggest that frequent starvation may lead to dizziness, low blood pressure, weakness, dehydration and lethargy.”

Starting your day with a hearty breakfast and making dinner plans tend to be on most people’s daily to-do lists. But most people tend to skip lunch due to a clash with peak working hours.

Consequences of skipping lunch include

• Your mid-day productivity levels can drop: While lunch often is downplayed by the idea that it needs to be quick, rushed, and jammed into our day, fuel eaten at lunchtime is very crucial for setting us up for a fruitful afternoon. It is important to note that the foods consumed for lunch should be fibre and protein such as whole grain cereals, dals, and salad to maintain satiety levels and prevent post-meal crashes and lethargy.

• There would be a high chance of over-indulging later in the day: If we do not eat the right quantity and quality of food throughout the day, we tend to make up for it later in the day by overdoing it during the evenings. The reason is, that when your body is fasting, the brain releases neurotransmitters which are linked to increased cravings.

• You might lose out on essential nutrients as a result of consuming a lesser number of meals. It is important to provide your body with sufficient calories, carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, vitamins, minerals and water. Eating lunch on time can also reduce the chances of craving sweet, starchy, high-fat, and salty foods.

 

Lung cancer treatment: UK researchers develop a drug that can kill a tumour when combined with chemotherapy

 Source: https://www.news9live.com/health/health-news

Scientists in the UK have recently developed a drug which can work wonders to treat an aggressive form of cancer. As per The Guardian, researchers at the Queen Mary University London said that the treatment can quadruple three-year survival rate and also increase average survival rate by 1.6 months. Experts further said that the new drug, which works by cutting off food supply to the tumour is a first of its type for mesothelioma – a type of lung cancer – in 20 years. Results of the study were published in JAMA Oncology journal.

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that forms in the lungs and is often caused by exposure to asbestos at work. The deadly, aggressive form of tumour has one of the worst cancer survival rates in the world. Thousands of people are diagnosed with the disease every year. Experts at Queen Mary University of London carried out an international trial for the same across five countries – Italy, Taiwan, Australia and the UK. The team of researchers saw patients receive chemotherapy every three weeks till up to six cycles. Half of the participants were give ADI-PEG20 (pegargiminase), and other were offered placebo for two years.

The final analysis included 249 people with pleural mesothelioma, a disease that takes a toll on the lining of the lung – average age of 70 years. ATOMIC-meso trial was performed from 2017 till 2021 and patients involved in it were followed up for a year. Those who were given pegargiminase and chemotherapy survived for an average of 9.3 months as opposed to 7.7 years for people who were given chemotherapy and placebo. The average progression-free survival rate was 6.2 months with pegargiminase-chemotherapy.

In this trial, researchers noted that pegargiminase-based chemotherapy was well-tolerated with no new safety signal. This significantly increased the median overall survival rate by 1.6 months and quadrupled over 36 months. Researchers also said that this is the first successful combination of chemotherapy with a drug which targets cancer growth over a period of 20 years. The new drug worked by depleting arginine levels in the blood as tumour cells cannot manufacture the same on its own, thereby inhibiting cancer growth.

Researchers were also impressed to see how arginine starvation of cancer cells can work to stop the disease. The discovery was made in the early stages itself, and the same drug is now improving quality of life in mesothelioma patients.

 

Change one habit: Cardiologist shares how you can reduce heart disease risk

 Source: https://www.news9live.com/health/health-news

Eating meals after 8pm can increase the risk of suffering from a stroke by 28 percent as opposed to eating before 8pm.

 Heart diseases take the blame for highest number of deaths globally every year. Be it silent heart disease or those that have prominent symptoms, this group of conditions are potentially fatal but their prevention, management and treatment are largely centred on dietary and lifestyle choices. From heart failure to coronary heart disease to stroke, several factors contribute to the risk of heart conditions -from family history to workouts to smoking to even excessive intake of saturated and trans fats. But according to a cardiologist, there is just one simple dietary change which can make all the difference.

How to time meals for a healthier heart?

According to research, not just changing the types of food one eats but being mindful of the timing of meals can make a difference. As per a cardiologist, eating meals early in a day could mitigate heart disease risk. Doctors say that diet has a gamechanging role to play in prevention, progression and development of cardiovascular conditions.

In a French study from December 2023, scientists anaylsed the data of over 100,000 people. It was discovered that eating later in the day, the first meal, is strongly associated with a high risk of heart diseases. The findings were specific to suggest that even an hourly delay can add to the odds of suffering from cardiovascular crisis and that too by 6 per cent. This means that people who had breakfast at 9am were 6 per cent more likely to suffer from a heart condition as opposed to people who ate at 8am.

How does fasting reduce heart disease risk?

Doctors say that the same is also true for the last meal of the day. As per experts, eating the last meal of the day later at night is associated with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Eating meals after 8pm can increase the risk of suffering from a stroke by 28 per cent as opposed to eating before 8pm.

Experts also say that taking longer breaks between eating can help. The longer one fasts between the last and the first meal of the next day, the better it is. It helps reduce stroke risk further. This means that a long fasting duration at night can do the trick to fight cardiovascular conditions. Therefore, one must get meals as early as possible in a day and stop eating timely as well for best heart health in a long run.