Skipping meals dangerous, could predispose you to stroke

Did you know that skipping meals could be a dangerous habit that could predispose you to several health complications?

Well, if you are in this habit, you may want to correct it, because health experts say it is one of the leading causes of obesity and overweight as well as stroke.

Edmund and Daniel Katuo Kamo tell me, work schedules and demands leave them sometimes nearly a day without food.

“I usually skip meals when I am in a hurry to get to work, by the time I realize, it is afternoon,” Edmund says. For Daniel Katuo Kamo, a technician who is almost always on the field, “it is tough to make time to eat.”

He says, “we are always on the move and barely sit at one spot for long.”

I ask him when you realize you have gone nearly a day without food, what do you do?

“Oh, we get a drink and some snacks. I know it is not helpful, but that’s the only option in the circumstance,” he says.

But this, experts say is one of the leading causes of health complications.

Dietician at the diet therapy and stroke units of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Andrew Kpabi, is seeing many of such cases.

“Your body is a machine and needs food to work. When you skip meals, your body becomes agitated, just like when you work for months without pay, you get agitated.”

Andrew Kpabi says, “your body becomes stressed when you skip meals and high-stress levels, mean high-risk factor for hypertension; which is, in turn, a risk factor for stroke.”

Experts say skipping meals also leaves people hungrier; making them eat more when they get the chance.

Andrew tells me, “eating more during that period makes your weight go up, which in the long run is also a stroke risk.”

He adds, “skipping meals leave people craving for spicy and unhealthy foods, some also high in salt and other unwholesome ingredients.”

“On days like Fridays, people tend to skip meals only to reward themselves later in the day, with all sorts of unhealthy food and drinks. All these increase your risk of stroke.”