The Best Weight-loss Trick Ever

One of the best-ever "tricks" to help your weight-loss efforts is free, fun and relaxing. Everyone can do it -- but most don't do it enough. Call it the dream diet if you will, because the trick is simply getting a good night's sleep. That's right: adequate sleep produces actions in your body that help you shed pounds. Not getting enough sleep can sabotage your weight-loss efforts and pack on the pounds. The National Sleep Foundation's 2003 "Sleep in America" poll reveals that not getting enough zzzs is associated with diabetes -- a disease that is more common among people who are overweight or obese, and especially problematic among older adults with weight issues.

Sleep Affects Weight

When you don't get enough rest at night, levels of ghrelin -- a hormone that increases hunger -- rise. Leptin, on the other hand, is a hormone that tells you you're satisfied. This hormone is produced while you're sleeping, and it diminishes with the lack of sleep, notes an October 2009 "Scientific American" article, "You Snooze, You Lose -- Weight." The unnatural balance of these hormones caused by lack of sleep triggers your appetite during the day and leads to weight gain over time. In addition, sleep deprivation can spike your stress hormone, cortisol, which can make you crave high-carb comfort foods and is associated with excess belly fat. As if that weren't enough, you miss out on the release of growth hormone when you don't sleep, which hinders your ability to convert fat to energy. Without enough deep sleep, your stores of fat mount. The National Sleep Foundation says if you don't get enough sleep, you can confuse fatigue and hunger -- eating when you're really only sleepy, for example, because you think fatigue is hunger.

Lack of Sleep Impairs Metabolism

The National Sleep Foundation says amassing a sleep debt over time can impair your metabolism. For example, it can affect your body's ability to process blood sugar. The foundation reported conclusions from a study that revealed those who make up for short sleep could require up to 30 percent more insulin than people who get enough sleep. Calling sleep deprivation the "royal route to obesity," the foundation reports that even people who don't have weight issues begin to experience health problems that put them at long-term risk of weight gain and diseases like diabetes.

Sleep Debt Sabotages Weight-loss Efforts

If you're working out and eating a healthy diet in an effort to lose weight, but you find you're just not shedding any pounds, a sleep deficit may be to blame. In the October 5, 2010 "Annals of Internal Medicine," a group of researchers reported on a study of dieters with different sleep habits. All lost weight, but the short sleepers lost muscle, while the longer sleepers lost fat. The sleep-deprived participants also had high levels of ghrelin, which promoted retention of fat. The authors concluded that the amount of sleep you get contributes to your maintaining fat-free mass, or muscle, during a time when you don't consume calories. Lack of sleep, on the other hand, undermines the best dietary interventions you could try to lose weight.

Sleep's Busy Calorie Burn

Sleeping is a nightly fast. Although your metabolism slows down, your body is far from inactive. Dennis Rosen, a pediatric sleep specialist writing for "Psychology Today" reported on studies that were presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies -- one of which found that people lose weight three times as fast while asleep than while lying in bed awake. In a study, participants lost an average of 1.9 g per minute, roughly 1/4 lb. per hour while sleeping. Theories on why this was so were centered on brain and hormonal activity. The brain, Rosen writes, is responsible for 20 percent of the body's total energy consumption, and during deep sleep, your brain's metabolic rate is higher than when you are awake. In addition, your body temperature drops at night, causing your increased calorie burning to keep your temperature regulated.

Obesity Disrupts Sleep

Being overweight creates a vicious cycle of sleep disruption and further weight problems. The National Sleep Foundation says 18 million Americans, most often people who are overweight, suffer from sleep apnea. This is a disorder that makes people temporarily stop breathing during the night. People with sleep apnea get less deep sleep and are often tired during the day, leaving them at risk of the high-ghrelin, low-leptin problems associated with weight gain. The foundation says that as you gain weight, especially in your trunk and neck, your risk of "sleep-disordered breathing" increases. It also says that sometimes the best way to treat obesity is to treat an underlying sleep issue. Not feeling drowsy all day can help people find the energy to exercise, and they don't have the hormone-driven hunger pangs.