When someone is trying to lose weight, it is common knowledge that the food we eat and the amount of activity we do need to be changed. We usually thought of these two key factors that will achieve results, to eat less and move more. However, what about our sleep?
Is this something that needs to be addressed in order to have weight loss success?
sleep is an often-neglected factor that also plays an important role alongside diet and physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle.
In Fact, the goal for weight loss is usually to decrease body fat while retaining as much muscle mass as possible. Not obtaining the correct amount of sleep can determine how much fat is lost as well as how much muscle mass you retain while on a calorie-restricted diet.
Researches have shown that the recommended sleep duration for adults is seven to nine hours a night. sleeping less than the recommended amount is linked to having greater body fat, increased risk of obesity, and these because of changes in metabolism, appetite, and food selection.
-Metabolism
particularly glucose (sugar) metabolism. When food is eaten, our bodies release insulin, a hormone that helps to process the glucose in our blood. However, sleep loss can impair our bodies’ response to insulin, reducing its ability to uptake glucose. We may be able to recover from the occasional night of sleep loss, but in the long term, this could lead to health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
a single night of sleep restriction is enough to impair the insulin response to glucose intake in healthy young men. Given that sleep-deprived people already tend to choose foods high in glucose due to increased appetite and reward-seeking behavior, the impaired ability to process glucose can make things worse.
An excess of glucose could be converted to fatty acids and stored as fat. Collectively, this can accumulate over the long term, leading to weight gain.
-Appetite and food selection.
When someone is not getting enough sleep, this can cause an individual to feel physically tired. This can often lead to poorer and more convenient food choices. The tendency to grab that quick meal that is high in fat and rich in carbohydrates or perhaps that sugary beverage with extra caffeine becomes an enticing option in the presence of mental and physical fatigue. In addition, when energy is low, the motivation to do exercise can be lacking, causing us to move less and therefore burn fewer calories during the day. And finally, if someone is not asleep, then the amount of wakeful time is increased. This can lead to more opportunities to snack and feel the effects of hunger and late-night cravings, thus leading to the consumption of more calories during the day.
Establishing healthy sleep habits can help your body maintain a healthy weight, While you weren’t sleeping, your body cooked up a perfect recipe for weight gain. So, don’t skip out on getting those extra zzz’s
Summary:
Poor sleep can:
– Associate with weight gain and a higher likelihood of obesity in both adults and children.
– Decrease your exercise motivation, quantity, and intensity. Getting more sleep may even help improve performance.
– Increase appetite, likely due to its effect on hormones that signal hunger and fullness.
– Increase your calorie intake by increasing late-night snacking, portion sizes, and the time available to eat.
– Decrease your self-control and decision-making abilities and can increase the brain’s reaction to food.
Poor sleep has also been linked to increased intake of foods high in calories, fats, and carbs. Just a few days of poor sleep can cause insulin resistance that is a precursor to both weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
