Lack of sleep has become a global problem in the past decade. Everywhere around the world people are sleeping less. This trend has increased in the recent years starting a viscious cycle of sleep deprivation. Many shrug off lack of sleep and say they will only become irratible. Lack of sleep can also play a role in weight gain.
Did you know that your hormones play a role in your weight loss and gain? The hormones called Ghrelin and Leptin are the hormones that can either cause you to gain or lose weight. Ghrelin stimulates your appetite while leptin helps to control your appetite. Leptin is your friend as it tells you when you are full.
When you don't sleep enough your ghrelin and leptin hormones are out of balance. They don't function properly. Lack of sleep causes the levels of the ghrelin hormone to increase in your system. This causes you to feel hungry to a much greater extent.
Not only do you feel hungrier when you do not get enough sleep, it takes more to make you feel satiated because the amount of leptin in your system decreases. Also, research has shown that the more sleep deprived you are, the worse things are as far as weight gain is concerned.
If the production of ghrelin and leptin aren't convincing, then consider this: there is a correlation between obesity and sleep deprivation according to researchers at Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin. According to polls, 63% of Americans declare that they are not getting a full 8 hours of sleep every night. Amazingly, 65% of Americans are considered overweight or obese (Source: usatoday.com, 12/06/2004). Coincidence? Perhaps.
How can lack of sleep add pounds to your waistline. Don't you burn more calories while you are awake? Yes, you do burn more calories while awake then sleeping. However, the you often eat sugary snack foods when you could be sleeping. These calories overshadow the fact that you are awake. This is due to the decrease of leptin in your system.
Also take into account that we burn 2/3 of all calories while we are resting. Therefore, only 1/3 of our calories are burned during physical activity and exercise. So just because you are awake doesn't necessarily mean you are burning more calories. It depends on each person and their activity levels.
There is a disastrous majority of overweight Americans today. Obliviously, current diet and exercise programs are not being followed currently. An easy way to help curb a burgeoning waistline is to focus on your sleep time. Try sleeping more to affect your ghrelina and leptin hormones positively. Get comfortable and get some sleep for a trimmer you!
It is very possible that the reason why so many of us fail with our New Year's Resolutions to lose weight is because we continue to not get enough sleep night after night. If you are having trouble seeing results from your diet, ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep and find a way to get more. You will not only feel more refreshed, you may also feel slimmer in the process!
