Overweight and obese woman who choose to skip breakfast often experience a spike in insulin and glucose levels after lunch.

On the days the women skipped breakfast researchers also observed an increase in the amount of free fatty acids, according to Medpage Today.

"It's possible that insulin resistance over time may predispose to further metabolic derangements and possibly progression to type two diabetes," said Elizabeth Thomas, MD, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

The study looked at 10 women from 25 to 40 with a similar body mass. Two of the women regularly skipped breakfast. Researchers assessed the women on two separate occasions about one month apart, the meetings corresponded with the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle.

The women were asked not to exercise the day before the assessments, and were given a dinner the night before meant to provide them with 35 percent of their required total daily energy.

The morning of the first study some of the women were instructed to eat a breakfast with a similar nutritional content, while others just drank a glass of water. For the second meeting the women switched and did the opposite as they had the first time.

Before lunch the insulin levels were about the same in both groups, but after lunch insulin and glucose levels spiked dramatically in those who had not eaten breakfast. Free fatty acids were more present in the no-breakfast group before lunch, but afterwards they dropped. There were more fatty acids in general found in the women who did not eat that morning.

Skipping breakfast has been linked weight gain and an increased risk of type two diabetes.

"Learning about these mechanisms does give us better data to recommend eating habits to people, and I think our society is having trouble with eating habits," said Lisa Fish, MD, an endocrinologist and a member of the Advocacy and Public Outreach Core Committee.

According to Fish most people don't eat three full meals a day, but rather eat one or two and then snack. Researchers have estimated 10 to 20 percent of the population skip breakfast.

"People may be doing that to try and eat less but they end up with a dysfunctional use of fuel for their bodies that causes them to actually gain more weight and develop more insulin resistance," she said.

Short-term studies on fit individuals who regularly ate breakfast showed "impaired insulin sensitivity; no change or an increase in energy intake; increased hunger; decreased satiety' and worse lipid profiles," when they skipped the meal.

Fish said a limitation of the study could be that the subjects were not asked to eat a typical American breakfast, but rather one meeting nutritional requirements.

"It may be helpful for [the researchers] to look, in addition, to things that are more realistic for what's actually going on," Fish said.