Friday, April 8, 2011

Do Your Sleeping Habits Make You Gain Weight?

Recently Scientists have discovered that how much you sleep may affect your appetite. As if we didn’t have enough stacked against us now our sleeping habits can make us fat too? What’s next?

There are these hormones we all have called leptin and ghrelin that affect our appetites. They work together in a sort of checks and balances sort of way. Ghrelin which is produced in the gastrointestinal track stimulates appetite, while leptin produced in fat cells sends a signal to the brain when you are full.

When You don’t get enough sleep it decreases the leptin levels which will cause you to feel hungry and less satisfied when you eat causing you to eat more. Lack of sleep also causes the ghrelin levels to rise which stimulates your appetite causing you to feel hungry.

Have you ever had a sleepless night and the next day no matter what you eat or how much you can’t seem to get full? That is the leptin and ghrelin at work. What’s even worse in some studies the types of food you crave after not getting enough sleep are the ones high in carbohydrates and fat. And studies have also shown that those who slept less weighed more! If there were ever a reason to get your full 8 hours of peaceful sleep this would be it!

There was a study done at the University of Chicago. The doctors measured the leptin and ghrelin levels in 12 healthy men. They also noted their hunger and appetite levels. During the study the men were subjected to 2 days sleep deprivation followed by 2 days extended sleep. During the time of the deprivation the leptin levels went down and the ghrelin levels went up. The men’s appetites not only increased but the desire for high carbohydrate calorie dense foods went up by 45%!

In a study at Stanford University 1,000 volunteers reported how many hours of sleep they were getting each night. Doctors then measured their leptin and ghrelin levels as well as tracked their weight. The result was those who slept less than 8 hours not only had lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin but also had increased levels of body fat.

What’s more it’s not only how much sleep we are getting a night but the quality of sleep matters also. Millions of people have some type of sleep disorder and do not get the required amount and type of sleep we need to be healthy and now I suppose thin too. So if you have trouble getting to sleep, wake up off and on throughout the night or simply can’t sleep your leptin levels are going down and ghrelin levels are going up all the time causing you to want to eat more and eat the high carbohydrate high calorie foods that make us fat.

What is interesting though is people with sleep apnea do not have the usual low leptin levels associated with being overweight. In fact when their apnea is treated leptin levels drop and somehow that helps them lose weight.

Maybe it’s a simple as when you are well rested you feel better, move more, and eat better. Doctors are still unsure why people with sleep apnea are so different than everyone else. At this point all the answers are not clear but what is clear is getting a peaceful night’s sleep of 8 hours (as a rule) on a regular basis will benefit your Health and Overall Well Being in So many ways!

So if you need a little help there are things you can do to help get that good night’s sleep!



Click Here For More Info On
Sleep Now!
Also sometimes we need a little help to Relax Herbalife’s Relax Now is an herbal supplement that helps you relax and deal with the stress in your life. And when you’re relaxed you Sleep better. And if you pair the Relax now with Herbalife’s Sleep Now an herbal supplement formulated to help give you a peaceful night’s sleep you can’t go wrong!

Click Here For More Info On Relax Now

No comments:

Post a Comment