Is it ok to skip meals, even occasionally? Here's what happens to your body

Between waking up and getting ready for work, you might have just enough time to down a cup of coffee before you have to get out of the house. Or your boss just handed you a report at 12pm that needs completing in an hour’s time.

Whatever the reason, meal-skipping happens. So, what’s the big deal, right? We over-eat anyway, so we can stand to miss a couple of meals in a day.

You might lose a little weight but there are other health issues to contend with, say experts.

For starters, skipping just one meal causes your blood sugar levels to plummet. If you skip breakfast, it means your body has gone without fuel for nearly 12 hours – assuming your last meal was at 8pm and you begin your day at 7am. Imagine starting your car’s engine when its tank is empty, and you get the picture.

“Consistently (skipping meals) might lead to issues such as poor concentration, poor-quality diet and slowed metabolism for some,” said Apple Chan, a dietitian from Gleneagles Hospital. “This usually does not happen overnight. It’s the chronic, low consumption that happens over months or even years.”

In fact, unsated hunger pangs may cause you to over-eat at your next meal – not a good thing if you’re watching your calorie intake. More importantly, there’s also the diabetes risk.

In a study published in the medical journal Metabolism, researchers found that skipping meals during the day and eating one large meal in the evening created elevated fasting glucose levels and a delayed insulin response – conditions that can lead to diabetes in the long run.

But what if you try to redeem yourself by grabbing a cup of Milo or a couple of biscuits? Don’t these stop-gap measures go some ways in placating your rumbling tummy? Yes, but not nearly enough. “That is definitely not going to last you till your next meal,” said Chan.

At the very least, she said, ensure that your snack has the basic nutrient components: Carbohydrates, fats and protein. “All of these provide for the different functions the body requires for energy sustenance.”

Instead of just a cup of Milo, she recommended adding a tuna sandwich with avocado. That way, you get some carbs from the bread, protein from the tuna, and fats from the avocado and Milo. No time to head to the deli? Fix yourself some wholemeal crackers, cheese and Milo from the pantry. Or stash some cereal bars (they usually contain all three nutrients) in your office drawer.

Here’s a look at what other health issues can happen when you skip meals.

YOU WON’T LOSE WEIGHT IN THE LONG RUN

You might notice your clothes feeling looser and think you’ve lost weight from skipping meals. But it’d be a bad idea to use this method to pursue your ideal weight. “More than 50 per cent of the rapid weight reduction is fluid, which can lead to serious low blood pressure,” cautioned Chan.

She said that a study on obese individuals showed that at the 5-per-cent weight loss mark, continued fasting will actually result in less fat burning and more water loss. So, there might be an initial drop in weight due to the loss of water, but it will plateau after a while, she said.

Incidentally, once your body detects a shortage in food, it goes into self-preservation mode. Chan explained: “If the body detects that it is constantly receiving less than the required amount of food intake, it compensates by reducing energy expenditure.”

Some individuals may think that skipping meals can help them drop their weight as it is rather similar to the popular diet method known as intermittent fasting. Basically, it oscillates between periods (it can be hours, days or even weeks) of eating and fasting without having to mind what foods to stay away from.

“Skipping meals and other types of intermittent fasting may not be realistic for most people, and it does have the potential to backfire if it triggers unhealthy snacking or overeating later on,” Chan said.

“Even though intermittent fasting results in quick weight loss, it's often fluid loss and might not be substantial and sustainable in the long run. There are also some risks associated, such as dehydration and heartburn.

“Although I might not oppose healthy individuals opting for such diets for short periods of time, individuals with medical issues, such as diabetics and eating disorders, should refrain from them,” cautioned Chan.

YOU LOSE MUSCLE MASS

Say goodbye to the muscle gains you’ve worked so hard for at the gym because your body will start to cannibalise your muscles, usually within four to six hours of not eating, said Chan.

“During the early stages of fasting, the body can tap on back-up glycogen reserves. But even so, these stores can be depleted within 24 hours,” she said.

If you’re counting on increasing your fat burn through ketosis (the process where fats get broken down by the body for use as energy), it is only after one week of fasting or food deprivation that it happens, said Chan. By then, your body would have torched through considerable amounts of muscle for fuel.

YOU GET GASTRIC PROBLEMS

You’re not giving your stomach a break by skipping a meal or two. The reason is this: Your stomach produces digestive juices to break down the food that you eat. Even when there is no food to digest, it continues to do its job at the usual time that you eat.

“Prolonged periods without food tend to lead to acid reflux, gastritis and stomach acid. Excessive amounts of digestive juices might erode your intestinal lining and cause ulcers,” said Chan.

YOU START TO EAT JUNK FOOD

Ever notice how your resolve to stay away from doughnuts and fried chicken dissolves when you’re super hungry? That’s because when your blood sugar levels are low, your body wants you to grab hold of the easiest fuel to burn.

Unfortunately for us, that’s usually sugar and fat as they can raise the blood sugar levels quickly, said Chan. “You also tend to eat more ravenously when food becomes available, so your diet goes out of the window.”

YOU GET BAD BREATH

During the periods when you skip meals, your mouth produces less saliva and you might end up with a dry mouth. It is the perfect condition for bacteria to flourish, which in turn, can generate odour in your breath.

“If you have to skip a meal, drink sufficient water to keep your mouth moist and help to stimulate saliva production,” said Chan.


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Is it ok to skip meals, even occasionally? Here's what happens to your body

Feel stuck in life as you get older? It might be your ego, says Tan Kheng Hua

Tan Kheng Hua – the actress who stole a scene in Crazy Rich Asians from Michelle Yeoh with just a wordless stare that would shrink the largest of testicles – was sitting on my sofa, looking fabulous in her T-shirt and jeans, snacking on murukku. And it occurred to me, quite simply: I want what she’s having.

The Singaporean actress who’s making a new life in Hollywood at the age of 57 knows how you feel – and she’s got advice on how to age according to your rules.

Not the murukku, mind you (I had another tub squirrelled away for eating my emotions), but the way she’s growing older… and feeling happy about it.

“At 40, in terms of my career, I felt jaded, old… I remember, I just felt like, oh gosh, I really needed to change,” said Kheng, in an unfiltered conversation for our CNA Lifestyle podcast series House Party For 2. “I just felt… stuck.”

It’s a sentiment many of us who are no longer in our 20s (or 30s) can relate to. It’s a growing realisation that you’re so far from where you wanted to find yourself; that perhaps you’re starting to simply “exist” instead of “live” like you once did when your joints didn’t ache as much.

This, however, is Kheng at age 57: “I just have never felt more free, more independent, more at peace, more myself. I feel myself finally on a path where I think this is really how I want to grow old and eventually die,” she said. “I feel so much lighter.”

I first met Kheng back in 1997. She was already a respected name in theatre, had recently come off starring in Singapore’s first English-language drama series Masters Of The Sea, and had just started what would be 11 years on the sitcom Phua Chu Kang. I was acting in my very first play, and Kheng was very kind to me when other theatre folk were less than warm. At the reception, she marched right up to me where I was stationed at the buffet table (my history of emotional eating goes back a long way) and told me straight up that I had done a good job. Her encouragement meant a great deal to 19-year-old me.

It was also a wonderful counterbalance to my mother telling me she would never watch another theatre show ever, now that she’d been psychologically scarred from watching her teenage son play a gay, drug-addled, stripper / porn star with mommy issues who wears a sequined thong and dies of an overdose. I told her it was art. Mum said it was a good thing she didn’t bring grandma.

I think there is a big difference between ‘how do I want to live?’ and ‘how do I want to die?’

I’d bump into Kheng over the years and we’ve stayed friendly. But the woman on my couch had a different energy than what I remember. She really did feel lighter. Even as we talked about dying.

“I think there is a big difference between ‘how do I want to live?’ and ‘how do I want to die?’” said Kheng. “About 10 years ago, I was going through some pretty difficult times in my life… And that was actually when I came about this concept that has helped me a lot then and now: Rather than thinking about how I want to live, I started thinking about how I want to die – and then work backwards from that.”

It might sound dark, but the woman’s got a point.

“The first thing I did was really visualise who were the people I wanted around me when I die. And, immediately, you will then answer all your questions about who are the important people in your life today – the people who you should actually consider deeper and in a more profound way,” she said.

“And then, suddenly, your world becomes very clear. Because from maybe 30 people or 300 things that you think you need today because this is how you want to live, it is whittled down to a very comfy bed and maybe about three people… It just gives you some perspective.”

Kheng has been doing a lot of thinking – or practising a “review on life”, as she calls it – since she upped and moved to Hollywood to explore new terrain. She’s been working, having scored roles on Grey’s Anatomy and Netflix’s Medical Police, as well a series regular spot in the Kung Fu reboot pilot from US TV network The CW. But she hasn’t been on her own like this since her university days, said Kheng. And that’s forcing her to “man up” and “just sort it out”.

Here’s what she’s learnt from those “review on life” sessions.

If you want to feel excited about what you do, you need to surround yourself with like-minded people, to be “immersed in talent”. It’s the vibe you’re looking for. “Once you find the right people that you vibe with, you just suddenly feel like waking up, and working hard, and doing something. And the day just suddenly becomes enjoyable.”

Next, it’s about tackling your ego. “Honestly, ego is the enemy,” said Kheng. “Don’t get me wrong – for anyone who wants to be good at what they do, ego is necessary. But ego is still the enemy in that it can make your life centred around something which may not necessarily propel you towards where you really want to go.”

Maybe it’s important to be curious rather than to be defensive and keep going for something that you may be past your use-by-date for, you know?

For example, offered Kheng, if her ego had made her turn down jobs just because they weren’t big roles, she would have missed out on Crazy Rich Asians, the UK miniseries Chimerica and HBO Asia’s The Garden Of Evening Mists.

“In the last five years, I’ve played more supporting characters than I’ve played lead. In fact, perhaps, in my entire career, I have played more supporting characters than I have leads. I want as much recognition as anybody else, okay? I won’t lie about that” she said. “But these projects were great to be on. My daily life had a quality. My daily acting life had a quality that I loved and that I want every single day of my life.”

“So the ego can be your friend and it’s very, very necessary,” said Kheng, “and the ego can be the enemy – and it is up to you and your character to discern which ego you want.”

And that brings us to accepting the ugly truth. “Maybe it’s important to be curious rather than to be defensive and keep going for something that you may be past your use-by-date for, you know?” she said. “Because when you try too hard in anything – whether it’s fashion or losing weight or acting – it never looks good. And it doesn’t feel good.”

“A real curiosity brings about a sense of humility. And those qualities bring about a sense of peace.”

It’s important to grow old gracefully, said Kheng, just as long as you play by your own rules. "'Graceful' is not just Audrey Hepburn, you know? It’s not just Grace Kelly. 'Graceful' is about some sort of truth and honesty. And if honesty to you is cussing every sentence that comes out of your mouth, then you know what? Go for it."

Now that is advice I can go for. Sorry, mum.

Listen to the full House Party For 2 podcast to find out how Kheng auditions against thousands of actors per role, and what she makes of people thinking Crazy Rich Asians wasn’t "Singaporean enough".

New episodes of House Party For 2 are published every Sunday at cna.asia/podcasts.


Taken from this article:
Feel stuck in life as you get older? It might be your ego, says Tan Kheng Hua