Too Fat? Get some Sleep
19/12/07 22:32
Too Fat? Get some Sleep
As if we didn’t already know that sleep was important for proper body function and a balanced health, researchers are throwing even more evidence at us that we really should pay attention to our sleep patterns! I came across some really interesting information lately, which revealed a link between lack of sleep and weight gain.
That’s right, basically this information tells us that not getting enough sleep will make you fat!
How is that possible? It has to do with hormone regulation, just like countless other processes in our bodies. Simply put, according to a study at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Obesity Research Center, people who are not getting enough rest are increasing their risk of gaining weight. They basically found a link between the number of hours someone sleeps at night and the risk of being obese.
The theory behind that is that lack of sleep lowers the levels of leptin and raises levels of grehlin. Now you probably have no idea what those 2 hormones are. To be honest, I didn’t either. Leptin is a hormone that plays a role in regulating energy intake and expenditure (which basically means how much you put in and how much of it your burn), which it accomplishes by:
1. Decreasing appetite
2. Increasing metabolism
This hormone binds into the appetite center of the hypothalamus and tells the brain we have eaten enough. It is thought that lack of sleep will decrease the levels of leptin which has two major consequences:
1. Increase in appetite (our brain believes we have not eaten enough and that we therefore need to stuff more food in)
2. Slower metabolism (the body doesn’t burn as much as it could or should)
So if you eat more and your metabolism slows down due to inadequate sleep, what do you thing is going to happen? That’s right, you’ll get fat!
But that’s not all, the research also tells us that the levels of grehlin (which is secreted by the stomach) increases when a person does not get enough rest; and what grehlin does is to stimulate appetite. Normally grehlin increases before meals and decreases after, but if it’s level is higher than it should be then, it would make sense that one would get hungrier and therefore eat more.
So there you have it: inadequate sleep will cause hormonal imbalance and create a risk for obesity.
As we also saw in another sleep help article, Growth Hormone levels also decrease if you do not get the right kind of sleep, which has many negative consequences on health, including the fact that it will make you age faster and look older. How much more evidence do you need slapped in your face to understand the importance of sleep and to realize it’s time you do something about it!
Here is the list of the consequences of lack of sleep I have in my book “How To Get A Better And Healthier Sleep Starting Tonight” (Chapter 2, p. 17):
Memory problems, attention problems, chronic pain, poor motor responses to stimuli, difficulty controlling emotions, mood swings, increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, increased risk of disease, depression, irritability, increased risk of work related accidents, decreased work performance, social and marital problems, lowered immune system.
I can now add: susceptibility to obesity.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
As if we didn’t already know that sleep was important for proper body function and a balanced health, researchers are throwing even more evidence at us that we really should pay attention to our sleep patterns! I came across some really interesting information lately, which revealed a link between lack of sleep and weight gain.
That’s right, basically this information tells us that not getting enough sleep will make you fat!
How is that possible? It has to do with hormone regulation, just like countless other processes in our bodies. Simply put, according to a study at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Obesity Research Center, people who are not getting enough rest are increasing their risk of gaining weight. They basically found a link between the number of hours someone sleeps at night and the risk of being obese.
The theory behind that is that lack of sleep lowers the levels of leptin and raises levels of grehlin. Now you probably have no idea what those 2 hormones are. To be honest, I didn’t either. Leptin is a hormone that plays a role in regulating energy intake and expenditure (which basically means how much you put in and how much of it your burn), which it accomplishes by:
1. Decreasing appetite
2. Increasing metabolism
This hormone binds into the appetite center of the hypothalamus and tells the brain we have eaten enough. It is thought that lack of sleep will decrease the levels of leptin which has two major consequences:
1. Increase in appetite (our brain believes we have not eaten enough and that we therefore need to stuff more food in)
2. Slower metabolism (the body doesn’t burn as much as it could or should)
So if you eat more and your metabolism slows down due to inadequate sleep, what do you thing is going to happen? That’s right, you’ll get fat!
But that’s not all, the research also tells us that the levels of grehlin (which is secreted by the stomach) increases when a person does not get enough rest; and what grehlin does is to stimulate appetite. Normally grehlin increases before meals and decreases after, but if it’s level is higher than it should be then, it would make sense that one would get hungrier and therefore eat more.
So there you have it: inadequate sleep will cause hormonal imbalance and create a risk for obesity.
As we also saw in another sleep help article, Growth Hormone levels also decrease if you do not get the right kind of sleep, which has many negative consequences on health, including the fact that it will make you age faster and look older. How much more evidence do you need slapped in your face to understand the importance of sleep and to realize it’s time you do something about it!
Here is the list of the consequences of lack of sleep I have in my book “How To Get A Better And Healthier Sleep Starting Tonight” (Chapter 2, p. 17):
Memory problems, attention problems, chronic pain, poor motor responses to stimuli, difficulty controlling emotions, mood swings, increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, increased risk of disease, depression, irritability, increased risk of work related accidents, decreased work performance, social and marital problems, lowered immune system.
I can now add: susceptibility to obesity.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
