Those of us who skip breakfast could be at an increased risk for a heart attack

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A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that skipping breakfast is linked to an elevated risk of heart-related death.  

It's known as the most important meal of the day and it could be because of a number of other factors, but there is a higher risk of dying from cardiovasucular related complications.  

Dr. Murtza Ali, LSU Health New Orleans Cardiology says researchers are not sure why breakfast is important.

"Those folks who don't eat breakfast seem to do worse," Ali said.  "It doesn't give us an explanation of why, but it does suggest that, perhaps those of us that skip breakfast, don't do as will from a heart and stroke standpoint."   

It could be that those of us skipping breakfast are always on the go and stress levels are high. 

"And the stress hormones do go up earliest in the morning," he said.  "So it's possible that those of us who are too rushed to eat breakfast are adding to the stress that is always a part of the normal part of waking."  

He says there are probably some other confounding factors here saying the study attempts to look a major issue and that's perhaps the subjects who regularly skipped breakfast also had the most unhealthy lifestyle habits.