Getting enough sleep is vital for your general health and well-being but it can also be a factor in your weight loss goals. Scientists believe sleep deprivation increases the levels of certain hunger hormones and decreases those that make you feel full. So when you embark on a healthy diet to lose weight, factor in a few more hours of shut-eye as well.
How It Works
The National Sleep Foundation estimates that 63 percent of American adults don't get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night. Because of the imbalance between the hormones that govern hunger and satiety--leptin and ghrelin--when you don't get a good night's sleep, you put yourself at risk of overeating and weight gain.
Scientifically Speaking
During research, Eve Van Cauter, who directs the Research Laboratory on Sleep, Chronobiology and Neuroendocrinology at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, found sleep-deprived men who had the biggest hormonal changes felt the most hungry and craved carbohydrate-rich foods. In contrast, those who had the smallest changes reported being the least hungry.
Sleepless and Obese
Researchers from Columbia University in New York found that people who sleep two to four hours a night are 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who get seven to nine hours. They also reported that those who get 10 or more hours are 11 percent less likely to be obese.
Time to Eat
If you're sleep deprived, you're awake for longer and more perceptible to temptation. This is because not only do you have more time to eat, you'll also crave unhealthier choices, such as sweets, starch and salty snacks. Therefore, to lose weight it's important to factor in more sleep. This is acknowledged by Van Cautner, who says, "More and more we're realizing that healthy eating, healthy sleeping and regular exercise are three important things that everyone should do."
New Ideas
Dr. Walter Moraes of Universidad Federal Sao Paolo, Brazil has a different approach from the hormonal one Van Cauter describes. In Dr. Moraes' research he found people lost weight three times faster while asleep than while they were lying awake in bed. He deduces that metabolism is actually increased during sleep. Dennis Rosen, M.D., a pediatric sleep specialist at Children's Hospital Boston, explains that this is because the brain is responsible for 20 percent of the body's total energy consumption. During rapid eye sleep, a person's brain's metabolic rate is very high, even more than when he is awake, and this leads to a heightened calorie expenditure, Rosen says. He also notes that during REM your temperature also increases, which leads to further calorie use, meaning more weight loss.
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