Sleep is truly underrated, especially when you are trying to lose weight. You definitely know that it is important to get your diet correctly and consume all the nutrients you need, as well as staying active and taking enough quantities of water – but have you ever considered the power of effective sleeping in losing weight? You probably have not.
For the society we live in today, sleep is considered as more of a hindrance than a good thing – unless it is in the case of a young child because they are still growing. However, it is just as important in the life of an adult, but the bad news is that many of us are not getting enough sleep. Just take a study done on American adults, which revealed that 30 percent of adults get less than six hours of sleep a night, which is a very high proportion. However, that is not surprising, given that obesity and weight issues are such a major issue in the United States.
For all this information, it is easy to wonder what makes sleeping on Tuft and Needle products the secret to effective weight management, so here are several reasons that make it so.
The less sleep you get, the more you risk becoming obese due to weight gain
You may not be aware of it, but poor sleeping habits have a direct link to weight gain and a higher BMI (Body Mass Index).Even though different people will have different sleep requirements due to several factors, research has revealed that there are changes in a person’s weight when you have less than seven hours every night. In fact, the risk of obesity increases by 89 percent in children, while it increases by 55 percent in adults when they are sleep deprived.
In addition, there are sleep disorders that are worsened by weight gain, particularly sleep apnea (momentary halting in breathing while you sleep). It is a vicious cycle that is very hard to break, as poor sleep leads to weight gain, and that weight gain causes even more poor sleep qsleep-deprivedong>Increases appetite
Studies from different sources all reveal the same thing – sleep deprived people tend to have greater appetites. This is mainly due to the impact of sleep deprivation on two hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin.
The stomach releases ghrelin, which the brain then interprets as hunger. The hormone increases until the moment when you are just about to eat, since the stomach is empty at this time, and the levels are at their lowest after eating. On the other hand, the fat cells release leptin, which ends up suppressing hunger, which the brain interprets this as fullness.
When you fail to get enough sleep, the body has more levels of ghrelin and less amounts of leptin, which is why you tend to feel hungrier when you are very tired. In fact, a certain study of sleep-deprived patients revealed that their bodies contained 14.9 percent higher than usual ghrelin levels, while leptin levels were lesser than usual by 15.5 percent.
An additional factor could be that the hormone cortisol is higher when you are sleep deprived. This hormone is released when the body is stressed, and it can also increase your appetite.
Sleep assists you to make healthy eating choices and fight cravings
When you are sleep deprived, the brain fails to function properly. That will make it more difficult for you to make healthier choices and stay away from tempting foods.
In fact, one of the reasons is the frontal lobe of the brain having dulled activities when you fail to get enough sleep, and this is the region of the brain that happens to be responsible for self-control and decision making. There is also the fact that the brain’s reward centers get greater stimulation from the presence of food when you lack sufficient sleep.
Therefore, the tendency and desire to grab a tub of ice cream when you are sleep deprived is a bad decision, and you probably have a harder time trying to control those desires. Lack of sufficient sleep makes your affinity for foods that are high in fat, calories and sugars increase.
Poor amounts and quality of sleep increases your calorie intake
This may be because of poor food choices and increasing appetite. In fact, a study done on twelve men confirmed this. When they slept for only four hours a day, they consumed a calorie intake of 559 more calories the next day, which was much less than when they were allowed to sleep for eight hours.
This might also be due to the greater inactivity levels because of fatigue. A tired person would prefer sitting in front of the television, for instance, instead of going for a walk. Combined with the increasing appetite and eating of mostly unhealthy foods (even snacks after dinner hours), it is not a shock to find someone gaining weight.
Poor sleep quantity and quality reduces your resting metabolism
Referred to as the RMR or the resting metabolic rate, this is the amount of calories the body burns as you are in a resting state. This is affected by several factors – mainly your gender, age, muscle mass, height and weight.
Sleep deprivation tends to reduce this rate, as research has revealed before. A study done on 15 men for instance, involved them being awake for a full day (24 hours). After this, their RMR was measured and found to be five percent lower than when they slept normally, and their metabolism after eating was 20 percent lower than usual.
In addition, there are also findings that among the factors leading to muscle loss happens to be sleep deprivation. This may be the overall cause of metabolic decrease, since muscle burns more calories at rest compared to fat.
Final thoughts
When you are attempting to lose weight, it is important to manage your diet and exercise levels, but it is important to not discount the importance of sufficient sleep. Therefore, when you establish a healthy sleeping pattern, you have better chances of proper weight management.
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