Imagine being able to control your weight while you sleep. Sounds
unbelievable, doesn't it? Well, now there is medical proof that
suggests some compelling links between lack of sleep and weight gain.
Researchers say that how much you sleep and the quality of your sleep,
may silently contribute to an orchestra of hormonal activity related to
your appetite.
Sleep is just as important as the foods you put into your body. Depriving yourself of sleep can do remarkable things to the body, including influencing your weight. Recently sleep and medical experts, Michael Breus, Ph.D., and Steven Lamm, M.D., decided to put this theory to test, and created a plan for several women of varying weights. The womens' one simple goal; get at least seven and a half hours of sleep a night. No significant diet or exercise changes were made and at the end of ten weeks, the results were in and were astonishing! The results reported by six women, ranged from 6 pounds dropped to 15 pounds! Now, to clarify, this experiment was not effortless; clearly finding time for more sleep does take some work and schedule adjustments. In fact, one of the participants wasn't able to stick to the plan for more than 2 - 3 nights a week because of a crazy work schedule. But although she did not lose weight by the end of the 10 weeks, she had still lost a total of two and a half inches off her waist, hips and bust.
So what is the sleep - weight gain connection?
When you sleep, your body produces the hormones, leptin and ghrelin, which control your appetite and signal your brain when you are full. How much you produce of these hormones is influenced by how much or how little you sleep. Because these hormones work hand-in-hand, insufficient sleep can wreak havoc on these hormones and throw off their levels. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin sends a signal to the brain when you are full. When you are sleep deprived, your leptin levels go down, (you don't feel satisfied after you eat) and your ghrelin levels go up (your appetite is stimulated and you want more food.) This unfortunately sets the stage for overeating and can lead to weight gain.
Whether you are conscious of this or not, you probably eat a lot more when you are tired. Researchers at the University of Chicago, conducted an experiment, allowing people to sleep five and half hours one night and eight and a half on another, and then measured how many snacks the participants downed the next day. The ones that were sleep deprived ate an average of 220 calories more than those who got enough sleep; an amount that could translate into almost a pound of fat gained after 2 weeks!
There are numerous studies like these documenting that people tend to weigh more if they sleep less. The average woman gets six and a half hours of sleep a night, much less than the seven-and-a-half-hour minimum experts say healthy women need. With the fascinating changes that participants have made to their bodies, without changing anything but sleep habits, researchers have theorized that getting more sleep just might be the answer to societys' expanding waistline and the key to weight loss.
Although we all have different sensitivities to these hormones, in your efforts to reach and maintain a healthy weight loss and lifestyle, get the proper sleep!!
Sleep is just as important as the foods you put into your body. Depriving yourself of sleep can do remarkable things to the body, including influencing your weight. Recently sleep and medical experts, Michael Breus, Ph.D., and Steven Lamm, M.D., decided to put this theory to test, and created a plan for several women of varying weights. The womens' one simple goal; get at least seven and a half hours of sleep a night. No significant diet or exercise changes were made and at the end of ten weeks, the results were in and were astonishing! The results reported by six women, ranged from 6 pounds dropped to 15 pounds! Now, to clarify, this experiment was not effortless; clearly finding time for more sleep does take some work and schedule adjustments. In fact, one of the participants wasn't able to stick to the plan for more than 2 - 3 nights a week because of a crazy work schedule. But although she did not lose weight by the end of the 10 weeks, she had still lost a total of two and a half inches off her waist, hips and bust.
So what is the sleep - weight gain connection?
When you sleep, your body produces the hormones, leptin and ghrelin, which control your appetite and signal your brain when you are full. How much you produce of these hormones is influenced by how much or how little you sleep. Because these hormones work hand-in-hand, insufficient sleep can wreak havoc on these hormones and throw off their levels. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin sends a signal to the brain when you are full. When you are sleep deprived, your leptin levels go down, (you don't feel satisfied after you eat) and your ghrelin levels go up (your appetite is stimulated and you want more food.) This unfortunately sets the stage for overeating and can lead to weight gain.
Whether you are conscious of this or not, you probably eat a lot more when you are tired. Researchers at the University of Chicago, conducted an experiment, allowing people to sleep five and half hours one night and eight and a half on another, and then measured how many snacks the participants downed the next day. The ones that were sleep deprived ate an average of 220 calories more than those who got enough sleep; an amount that could translate into almost a pound of fat gained after 2 weeks!
There are numerous studies like these documenting that people tend to weigh more if they sleep less. The average woman gets six and a half hours of sleep a night, much less than the seven-and-a-half-hour minimum experts say healthy women need. With the fascinating changes that participants have made to their bodies, without changing anything but sleep habits, researchers have theorized that getting more sleep just might be the answer to societys' expanding waistline and the key to weight loss.
Although we all have different sensitivities to these hormones, in your efforts to reach and maintain a healthy weight loss and lifestyle, get the proper sleep!!
Katie Olivia Rose is an avid fitness and weight loss enthusiast. Get more great quick weight loss tips for FREE at http://www.QuickWeightLoss-Tips.net
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katie_Olivia_Rose
0 commentaires:
Post a Comment