SCIENTISTS LINK
SLEEP DEPRIVATION
TO OBESITY!

"GOALS ARE DREAMS WITH DEADLINES." D. Hunt

Do you know anyone that gets 8 hours of sleep anymore? Many years ago, people went to bed when the sun set and woke up at sunrise. They worked hard all day performing physical labor that exhausted them to the point that sleep came easily.

They worked hard all day performing physical labor that exhausted them to the point that sleep came easily. That may still be true in some rural areas, but that is not the case for most of us. A large majority of people have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. This lack of restful sleep has significant consequences for our weight loss efforts.

Research conducted in 2004, at the University of Chicago, indicates that even partial sleep deprivation changes the way circulating levels of hormones regulate hunger! This in turn causes an increase in appetite and a preference for high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods.

Study participants who slept only four hours each, for two nights, had an 18% decrease in leptin, and a 28% increase in ghrelin.

Leptin is a hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure. It is produced by adipose tissue (i.e. FAT) and tells the brain when you�ve had enough to eat.

Ghrelin is the first circulating hormone and it�s function is to trigger hunger. Levels of ghrelin naturally increase before meals and decrease after meals. Ghrelin levels in the plasma of obese individuals have been found to be lower than in their lean peers. Lack of sleep produces ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, and also creates less leptin, whose job it is to suppress appetite.

Interestingly, this particular study consisted of healthy, young men, who when sleep deprived, reported a 24% increase in appetite, along with a strong desire for sweets, salty foods, and starchy foods.

In the past 40 years, adult Americans have reduced the amount of time they sleep by two hours each night! As sleep time decreased, average weights increased.

In 1960, only one in nine adults were obese compared to 2007, when the statistics jumped to nearly one in three!

An analysis of 10,000 adults between the ages of 32 and 49, conducted at the University of British Columbia, found that those who sleep less than seven hours each night are significantly more likely to be obese.

Most researchers agree that people need between 7-9 hours of sleep each night. An individual�s increased risk for disease (colon cancer, breast cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, according to a Harvard-run Nurses� Health Study) begins when people get less than 6-7 hours of sleep a night.

To read suggestions for how to get a more restful night's sleep, visit this informative website.

SCIENTISTS LINK SLEEP DEPRIVATION TO OBESITY!

SCIENTISTS LINK
SLEEP DEPRIVATION
TO OBESITY!