Could lack of sleep be contributing to America's obesity epidemic? A recent Columbia University study found that not getting enough sleep could put you at increased risk for weight gain.
The study, presented at the meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, analyzed data from 18,000 adults and found that those who slept less than the recommended seven hours a night had an increased risk of obesity. People who slept for less than four hours per night were 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who slept for seven to nine hours. Getting five hours of sleep or less decreased that risk to 50 percent, and getting six hours or less decreased it even more to 23 percent.
While it's still unclear exactly what causes this increased risk, scientists believe that lack of sleep lowers the amount of leptin your body produces. Leptin is a protein that suppresses appetite and is responsible for telling your brain when your stomach is full. In addition, when you are sleep-deprived, you are less able to make clear decisions and may eat more food than your body actually needs.
So what's the take-home lesson? A good night's sleep is not only critical for your mental health, it may also be a crucial part of your diet.
Good advice for us all. How much sleep are YOU getting?
At uni we learnt that when you are tired your body craves carbs as well... sort of wanting a suger hit to keep you going... pretty interesting!
I don't get enough sleep at all... pretty terrible actually.. I get insomnia a lot! my meditation works though.. even though it isn't sleep it helps me to relax.
I'm sure there are physiological reasons for weight gain in insomniacs, but I put some of it down to extended hours available to eat!
Here it is, 3am, I'm wide awake and hungry. I used to have middle-of-the-night denial. I figured that eating at night didn't count, either towards yesterday or tomorrow.
Guess a cup of tea and a few nuts will help with the hunger, but no more denial!
I'm an insomniac, too, averaging four hours of sleep each night. I eat out of boredom or because I feel hungry, even if I'm really not. Now that I'm on SBD, I just slurp down a tablespoon of peanut butter.
More Sleep Needed?
I get about 5 hours of sleep, and I know I used to eat sugar to stay awake, since I'm not supposed to have caffeine.
