Breakfast may help cut women's diabetes risk

Eating breakfast every day may help overweight women reduce their risk of diabetes, a study suggests.

When women skipped the morning meal, they experienced insulin resistance, a condition in which a person requires more insulin to bring their blood sugar into a normal range, said lead researcher Dr. Elizabeth Thomas, an instructor of medicine at the University of Colorado.

This insulin resistance was short-term in the study, but when the condition is chronic, it is a risk factor for diabetes, Thomas said. She was due to present her findings this weekend at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco.

"Eating a healthy breakfast is probably beneficial," Thomas said. "It may not only help you control your weight but avoid diabetes."

Diabetes has been diagnosed in more than 18 million Americans, according to the American Diabetes Association. Most have type 2 diabetes, in which the body does not make enough insulin or does not use it effectively. Excess weight is a risk factor for diabetes.

The new study included only nine women. Their average age was 29, and all were overweight or obese.

Thomas measured their levels of insulin and blood sugar on two different days after lunch. On one day, they had eaten breakfast; on the other day, they skipped it.

Glucose levels normally rise after eating a meal, and that in turn triggers insulin production, which helps the cells take in the glucose and convert it to energy.

However, the women's insulin and glucose levels after lunch were much higher on the day they skipped breakfast. That day, Thomas explained, "they required a higher level of insulin to handle the same meal."

"Their study doesn't prove causation," said Dr. Joel Zonszein, of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.