In addition to watching the calories you consume to keep your weight in check, you will also have to count the number of hours you sleep. A number of research studies have found a direct connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain. Studies have shown that people who get at least seven hours of sleep per night tend to have less body fat than people who don't. There are, of course, other factors involved in determining who becomes overweight and who doesn't, like food intake, exercise, and of course, genetics. But sleep is a more integral part of the process than most people realise. Many people who are sleep deprived don't even know it. Most researchers state seven hours as the minimum number of hours of sleep a person needs to be healthy and well-functioning. This rule applies to all except the very young and the very old.
Most non-sleep-deprived people take about 15 minutes to fall asleep at night. Chronic sleepiness and a nearly instant state of sleep when you get into bed are good indicators of sleep deprivation. If you are sleep deprived, there are some obvious tie-ins to obesity, like chronic sleepiness making physical activity unlikely. But there are also a number of things going on in your body that could contribute to weight gain. In scientific studies, the most commonly cited effects of sleep deprivation are hormonal disturbances, specifically involving the hormones leptin and ghrelin. When you don't get enough sleep, your body has too little leptin and too much ghrelin.
TOO LITTLE LEPTIN: The hormone leptin regulates your appetite, metabolism and calorie burning. Leptin is the chemical that tells your brain when you're full, when it should start burning up calories and, consequently, when it should create energy for your body to use. It triggers a series of messages and responses that start in the brain and end in the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland controls the way your body stores and uses energy.
During sleep, leptin levels increase, telling your brain you have plenty of energy for the time being and there's no need to trigger the feeling of hunger or the burning of calories. When you don't get enough sleep, you end up with too little leptin in your body, which, through a series of steps, makes your brain think you don't have enough energy for your needs. So your brain tells you you're hungry, even though you don't actually need food at that time, and it takes steps to store the calories you eat as fat so you'll have enough energy the next time you need it. The decrease in leptin brought on by sleep deprivation can result in a constant feeling of hunger and a general slow-down of your metabolism.
TOO MUCH GHRELIN: The other hormone linking sleep to weight gain is ghrelin. The purpose of ghrelin is basically the exact opposite of leptin: It tells your brain when you need to eat, when it should stop burning calories and when it should store energy as fat. During sleep, levels of ghrelin decrease, because sleep requires far less energy than being awake does. People who don't sleep enough end up with too much ghrelin in their system, so the body thinks it's hungry and it needs more calories, and it stops burning those calories because it thinks there's a shortage.
Sleep deprivation has also been found to increase levels of stress hormones and resistance to insulin, both of which also contribute to weight gain. Insulin resistance can also lead to Type 2 diabetes.
The following tips will help your body function optimally:
Try to aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night.
Increase your exercise level, but try not to exercise within two hours of your bed time.
Limit your intake of caffeine or alcohol near your bed time - caffeine can keep you awake, and alcohol can disrupt the normal stages of your sleep.
Sweet dreams!
