1. Skipping breakfast
If you’re trying to lose weight, you may think that skipping breakfast is a good way to save calories and speed up your progress. However, Gerber says that making sure you eat breakfast every morning is essential to your overall health, especially when it comes to your gut. “It is critical that we make time for breakfast as it helps us manage our stress levels and break our overnight fasting,” she explains. Failing to do so “can lead to poorly managed blood sugar from repeatedly skipping meals or undereating.” So, what does that mean for our gut? “If we do not eat our breakfast, our body registers this as unsafe and therefore does not prioritize gut repair, optimal digestion, and health hormone output,” she warns. “By not eating, it turns down the dial of metabolism to protect itself and can cause sluggish digestion.” Noted! For this reason, you should always find time to eat a quick breakfast to keep everything running smoothly.
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2. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach
Even worse than skipping breakfast is trading it for a coffee. Although you may think sipping on some caffeine is better than having nothing at all in the morning, Gerber says drinking coffee on an empty stomach can have serious consequences on your health. “Eating food to break our fast is so important–drinking coffee before consuming food can cause us more stress as most of us are already stressed to begin with,” she says. “More caffeine can add fuel to the fire and be harsh on our body. This can especially be seen in people who have genetically slow caffeine metabolizers.” And ultimately, all of that stress can take a toll on your gut. So, if you want to have a cup of coffee in the morning (like many of us choose to!) make sure to pair it with a nutritious breakfast. That extra bit of time you take to grab some food will pay off in the long run!
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