Getting sufficient sleep is as important to fat loss as are diet and exercise. The quantity and quality of your sleep affects the way your body reacts to food. Insufficient sleep makes you more likely to eat more and exercise less. It is also associated with a gradual increase in waist size and weight, even in those who eat less.
How Sleep Affects Weight
- Insulin Resistance: Lack of sleep reduces insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a hormone that moves sugar your bloodstream into the cells to be used as energy. When cells become insulin resistant, blood sugar levels increase and more insulin is released to compensate. The excess insulin increases hunger and causes the food you eat to be stored as fat as opposed to being used for energy. Insulin resistance is a may also result in an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
- Increased Ghrelin Levels: Ghrelin is a hormone released in the stomach. Levels increase when the stomach is empty. It tells the body when to eat by sending hunger signals the brain. Your body makes more ghrelin when you are sleep-deprived, so you tend to eat more.
- Decreased Leptin levels: Leptin is a hormone released from fat cells. It suppresses hunger and tells the brain to stop eating. When you are sleep-deprived, leptin levels reduce, making you eat more.
- Increased Cortisol Levels ~ levels of this stress hormone rise when you don’t sleep enough. It slows your metabolism and increases your appetite, which makes losing fat more difficult.
- Reduced Growth Hormone: lack of sleep leads to a reduction in growth hormone. This in turn leads to a reduced muscle mass and increased fat storage.
Tips for Better Sleep
- Avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, sodas) 4 – 6 hours before bedtime.
- Eat your last meal at least 2 hours before bedtime.
- Put down your phone and switch off your computer/TV an hour before bedtime.
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Turn off the lights. Darkness increases melatonin levels, a natural sleep hormone.
Ideal sleep duration for adults is 7 – 8 hours. But more isn’t always better. Sleeping more than 9 hours a night can also impact your health negatively.
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