Roadmap To A Healthy 2022 From Sleeping Better To Exercising
The researchers didnt give them any diet or exercise advice, and didnt ask them to keep track of their hunger, appetite or food intake. To keep the study in real-life conditions, the participants slept at home, rather than in a sleep lab, and wore devices to track their sleep cycles.
Their caloric intake was measured with a urine-based test for the most accurate results.
It turned out the participants who received sleep hygiene counseling were able to sleep more than an hour longer per night than the control group, and they ate less up to 500 fewer calories per day despite no other lifestyle changes. They also lost about 1 pound, while the control group gained just under a pound.
Does Lack Of Sleep Cause Overeating
Research studies have found that insufficient sleep increases overeating and unhealthy food choices. Not surprisingly, studies have also linked insufficient sleep to weight gain and a higher risk of obesity.
Disruptions to normal hormone production are a driving factor behind sleep deprivation leading to overeating. Sleep plays a vital role in regulating hormone levels, including the hormones leptin and ghrelin, which are integral to hunger and appetite.
Ghrelin is closely related to hunger while leptin is tied to feeling full. A lack of sleep has been found to trigger increased levels of ghrelin and , leading to increased hunger and appetite. This makes overeating more likely, especially since more time awake creates increased opportunities to eat.
Insufficient sleep also affects parts of the brain that determine how we think about food. In studies of people with limited sleep, brain activity is enhanced in areas that are involved in viewing food as a positive reward, making us more vulnerable to eating too much.
Even worse, these changes in the brain seem to be strongest with foods that can more easily contribute to obesity. One study found increased appetite for high-calorie foods in people who didnt get enough sleep. Similar results have been found in young children and adolescents, indicating that poor sleep may be a factor contributing to rising rates of childhood obesity.
Weight Loss Action Point
If you want to lose weight, you should make sure that you are getting sufficient sleep in addition to following a healthy diet and exercise program. For most of us, that means, you’ll need 7 hours or more a night.
- American Thoracic Society, International Conference, News release, San Diego, May 19-24, 2006.
- Patel SR, Malhotra A, White DP, Gottlieb DJ, Hu FB. Association between reduced sleep and weight gain in women. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Nov 15 164:947-54. Shomon, Mary. The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, HarperCollins. 2004.
- Spiegel K, Leproult R, Van Cauter E. “Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function.” Lancet. 1999 354:1435-1439.
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Ways Sleep Can Help You Get Slim
The following story is excerpted from TIMEs special edition, The Science of Sleep, which is.
When you want to slim down, the plan probably looks a bit like this: Step one, toss out the junk food step two, pull out the running shoes and step three, renew that gym membership . But a growing body of evidence suggests that getting a good nights sleep should be onor at least nearthe top of the list.
Few experts would disagree with the idea that weve become a nation in need of a pick-me-up. We stay up too late, we wake up too early and, increasingly, were overweight. While theres plenty of data showing that poor sleep can lead to weight gain and possibly even obesity, some new research also shows that the opposite may also be true: that getting the right amount of good quality sleep may actually help you shed a few pounds.
Getting a full night of sleep is one of the most under-appreciated factors contributing to healthy weight maintenance, says Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies the effect of sleep on weight.
Like all weight-loss strategies, sleep is not a quick fix, but consistently clocking a quality nights sleep could be the secret sauce for your weight-loss plan. So keep the following lessons in mind when optimizing your sleep schedule for a more favorable number on the scale. Heres why.
Immediate Effects Of Sleep Deprivation
About one-third of American adults do not get enough sleep each night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Short sleep duration in adults is defined as less than 7 hours of sleep in 24 hours. About 40% of adults report unintentionally falling asleep during the day at least once a month, and up to 70 million Americans have chronic sleep problems. Because of the public health burden of poor sleep health, achieving sufficient sleep in children and adults was included as a goal in the Healthy People 2020 goals.
Sleep helps to process your thoughts from the day as well as store memories, so a lack of good-quality sleep can lead to difficulty focusing and thinking clearly. You may feel tired, irritable, or anxious during the day. Performance at work or school may suffer. Your reaction time may be slowed, increasing the risk of driving accidents.
In children, insufficient sleep can lead to attention and behavior problems or hyperactivity. In the elderly, lack of sleep may decrease focus and attention, leading to a greater risk of falls, bone fractures, and car accidents.
There are several reasons people may get insufficient sleep:
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Women Who Sleep Less And Eat Less Still Gain
The researchers looked at exercise habits to determine if they could account, in part, for the findings. But they didn’t discover any differences in exercise levels or physical activity that would explain why the women who slept less weighed more.
Were the women who were getting less sleep also eating more? The answer was no. In fact, the opposite was true.
“Prior studies have shown that after just a few days of sleep restriction, the hormones that control appetite cause people to become hungrier, so we thought that women who slept less might eat more,” Patel says. “But, in fact, they ate less. That suggests that appetite and diet are not accounting for the weight gain in women who sleep less.”
Sleep Loss And Exercise
Exercise is a crucial component to losing weight, if thats your goal, as well as to staying healthy. But if youre not sleeping enough, you may not have the energy to get moving.
Although research on sleep loss and energy expenditure is lacking, sleepiness and fatigue tend to increase sedentary behavior. This, in turn, likely leads to less exercise and physical activity.
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Sleep Deprivation And Fighting Off Cravings
If you find that saying no to less nutritious food is more difficult when youre short on sleep, youre not alone.
Results from a small 2016 randomized controlled trial found that a lack of sleep can increase your desire to eat more high calorie foods and decrease your ability to resist them.
More specifically, researchers found that less sleep altered levels of endocannabinoid, which are chemical signals that affect your appetite and your brains reward system.
This was most notable on the days participants were sleep-deprived, when endocannabinoid levels were both higher and lasted longer, particularly in the afternoon.
Higher Heart Disease Risk
Using information from the large National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , researchers linked both short and long sleep with a higher risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. The study found that people sleeping more than eight hours per night were twice as likely to haveanginaVerified SourceMayo ClinicRanked #1 hospital by U.S. News & World Report and one of the most trusted medical institutions in the world. The staff is committed to integrated patient care, education, and research.View sourcechest pain caused by reduced blood flow) and 10% more likely to have coronary heart disease.
Analysis of the data from theNurses’ Health Study,Verified SourceNational Library of Medicine Worlds largest medical library, making biomedical data and information more accessible.View sourcewhich involved over 71,000 middle-aged women, also found connections between sleep length and heart health. Compared to normal eight-hour sleepers, women sleeping nine to 11 hours per night were 38% more likely to have coronary heart disease.
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The Sleep Diet: A Link Between Sleep & Weight Loss
Through the years dieters in the U.S. have tried everything from grapefruits to red meat to achieve weight-loss success. Does research show that sleep is the simple solution for the overweight and obese, or is the sleep diet just another passing fad?
In the U.S. the rate of obesity is rising at an alarming pace among all age groups and all races. About two-thirds of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. This leads to a higher risk of problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Obesity simply means that you have too much body fat. This places stress on your heart, blood-vessel system and joints. The body mass index is an easy way to estimate your level of body fat. It uses a formula to compare your weight with your height. An adult with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight. An adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.
In recent years research has shown an intriguing link between sleep and BMI. People who sleep for fewer hours each night tend to have a higher BMI than people who sleep longer. Other studies have linked sleep to some of the hormones that help control body weight and appetite.
Obesity also is a risk factor for a common sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea . People with OSA stop breathing up to hundreds of times per night. This ruins the quality of their sleep and causes excessive daytime sleepiness.
A Single Sleep Counseling Intervention Helped People Sleep Longer
For the study, Dr. Tasali recruited 80 adults who were classified as overweight with a body mass index between 25 and 29.9. The group, with an average age of about 30, reported they regularly slept fewer than 6.5 hours per night.
After two weeks of monitoring study participants sleep habits at home via wrist sensors, Tasali and her team divided the group into two categories: a control arm that continued with their regular sleep routine, and a study arm, which received a single one-on-one sleep counseling intervention. During the session, Tasali helped the study participants carve out a personalized sleep plan to work in an hour of extra sleep each night.
Both groups then slept at home for another two weeks with wrist actigraphs recording their sleeping patterns. Seventy percent of those who received sleep counseling had full-time or part-time jobs and for most, changing their sleep habits meant getting into bed earlier each night. Putting away phones, laptops, and other electronic devices before bedtime was another big factor that helped people in this group get that extra hour of sleep each night, Tasali says.
Among the control group, caloric intake increased by about 115 calories per day on average.
About 270 to 300 calories is the equivalent of a McDonalds cheeseburger or a little bit less than the calories in four large eggs.
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Sleep Deficiency And Eating Behaviors
Epidemiological studies show that insufficient sleep is independently associated with a higher risk of obesity. Clinical studies of of sleep-restricted adults show an increased hunger and calorie intake when participants are allowed free access to food. A preference for late evening or nighttime food intake and increased snacking has been observed. There also appears to be a food preference for higher carbohydrate and fat foods, which could partly explain the overall higher calorie intake.
Changes in hormone levels that signal either hunger or satiety have also been observed in clinical sleep restriction studies. Leptin is a hormone associated with satisfaction. When food enters the stomach, leptin is released from fat cells and travels to the brain where it signals the body to stop eating by creating a sensation of fullness. People with obesity may actually have very high levels of leptin the more body fat one has, the more leptin is produced in fat cells. However, a condition called leptin resistance may occur in which the brain does not receive the usual signal from leptin to stop eating. In response, more and more leptin is released. Lower leptin levels as well as high leptin levels suggesting leptin resistance have been observed in sleep-deprived adults.
If Your Job Disrupts Your Sleep Patterns You Can Maintain Your Weight By Eating Right
If youre in a profession that disrupts your chances of a healthy sleeping pattern, tweaking your routine and modifying your diet can help keep your weight in check and leave you feeling healthier.
People who work night shifts tend to come home in the morning and head straight to bed. As a result, they have only two meals every day. Instead, they should have a proper breakfast before they sleep in order to complete their food cycle for the day. Id recommend a protein-rich breakfast milk and bread, or eggs and bread, or any other protein. After lunch at 4 pm, they should have an early dinner and carry protein and fiber-rich snacks from home to avoid binging on carbs and fried food, which is generally available in most office canteens. Most importantly, avoid caffeine and drink lots of water to avoid constipation and acid reflux.
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Can Your Sleep Impact Your Weight
Sleep. That precious necessity we all need and yet so few of us end up getting enough.
Thanks to modern pressure and conveniences, our bodies are exposed to light, noise, food and activity when they expect dark, quiet and rest. Case in point: many of us are guilty of using our phones or watching TV before bed. All screens emit blue light, which interferes with our bodys natural circadian rhythm, disrupting our sleep.
So, not only do we tend to go to bed too late, but our sleep is often broken, leading to poor quality zzz’s. While we can survive on poor sleep, its not ideal for our health or for successful weight management.
Read on for the science behind the sleep-weight connection. Plus, visit the WW Shop for a fantastic range of products to help you relax, unwind and encourage better zzz’s. From pillow mist to magnesium bath flakes, we’ve got you covered.
Sleep can help us towards our weight loss goals
According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, people who sleep between six and eight hours a night have a better chance of achieving their weight loss goals than those who slept less or more than this.1
Researchers recruited 472 obese adults to a six-month intensive weight loss intervention programme. They found that participants who reported sleeping between six and seven or between seven and eight hours a night were more likely to lose at least 10lb compared to those who slept for six hours or less, or eight hours or more.
Impaired Brain Functioning And Mental Health
Sleep plays an important role in the brain, as the brain clears out waste byproducts, balances neurotransmitters and processes memories at rest. At both short and long extremes, rest may have an effect on mood and mental health.
CognitionUsing data from the Lumosity brain-training platform, researchers found that cognitive performance on three different games all peaked when people sleptaround seven hours,Verified SourceNational Library of Medicine Worlds largest medical library, making biomedical data and information more accessible.View sourceworsening with more or less rest. Other studies have also foundmemory impairmentsVerified SourceNational Library of Medicine Worlds largest medical library, making biomedical data and information more accessible.View sourceandVerified SourceResearch GateNetwork service for scientific researchers that makes it easy for experts to find and share papers.View sourcewith longer sleep.
Degenerative DiseasesOther research indicates that getting too little or too much sleep may be tied to increased Alzheimers disease risk factors and a largeSpanish studyVerified SourceNational Library of Medicine Worlds largest medical library, making biomedical data and information more accessible.View sourcefound that long sleepers may be at increased risk of developing dementia.
Depression and Mental HealthOversleeping is considered a potential symptom of depression. While many people with depression report insomnia, about 15% tend to oversleep.
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Sleeping Well: The Most Important Things You Can Do
Based on our experts advice and current opinions on healthy sleep hygiene practices, here are the key things you can do to promote good sleep habits and ensure your body gets the ideal amount of rest.
Eat Healthily
Research links eating a balanced diet with a wide variety of nutrients and adequate calories, carbohydrates and fats with normal sleep durations. Inone large studyVerified SourceNational Library of Medicine Worlds largest medical library, making biomedical data and information more accessible.View sourceof diet and lifestyle habits using NHANES data, long sleepers tended to eat less variety of foods and fewer carbohydrates and calories overall. Their diets were also lower than normal sleepers on a few nutrients:
- Theobromine found in chocolate and to a lesser extent in guarana.
- Dodecanoic acid found in coconuts, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil.
- Choline found in shrimp, fish, eggs, turkey, soy and some dark leafy greens.
- Selenium found in brazil nuts, fish, shrimp, turkey, chicken, beef and some whole grains.
- Lycopene found in guava, watermelon, cooked tomatoes, red cabbage, and red peppers.
- Phosphorus found in pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, eggs, fish, brazil nuts, lean meats, tofu, and lentils.
Try to include a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, and grains so your body receives the minerals, vitamins, and nutrients it needs to function.
Get Exercise
Get Consistent Sunlight
Stick to a Regular Bedtime and Wake Time
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