Lose Weight By Sleeping
Do you fell that you
need to lose weight? Well then don’t just count
calories. You might want to count sheep as well.
Recent studies have
shown that sleep deprivation disrupts a series of
metabolism and hormonal processes. It causes
increased hunger and affects the body’s metabolism
making it difficult to lose and control weight.
Lack of sleep causes
a hormone called cortisol, which controls the
appetite, to take excess calories and store them as
excess body fat. In addition, sleep loss interferes
with carbohydrate metabolism which may cause high
blood glucose levels. The excess amount of glucose
encourages the overproduction of insulin, which may
lead to diabetes or even obesity.
Sleep deprivation & weight
gain
Furthermore, sleep
deprivation can promote weight gain by affecting our
behavior. People who lack sleep tended to crave
sweets or high carbohydrate, high fat food with low
nutrient value. They tend to snack on chips, cakes,
pastries, burgers, fries, soft drinks, etc. Though
the short-term rise in blood sugar, brought on by
these snacks, gives a surge of energy, the extra
calories are not needed by the body and must be
stored as body fat.
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These calories are not so easily shed than
taken. When they are sleep deprived, people
are often too tired to exercise or they work
out less intensely than usual. They commonly
feel exhausted and lack the energy and
motivation to do even simple exercises.
They rather go to sleep, or eat, than go
physical. In due time, the calories that are
gained and not easily burned are deposited
in the body as fat. Some people may require
less hours of sleep to be in top condition
during the day; while others need more than
10 hours. |
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Experts' opinions
But experts agree that most people need at
least eight hours of sleep each night to give
themselves enough energy to exercise, eat right and
keep off those unwanted pounds. Yet, according to a
poll sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation,
only 30 percent of adults get eight or more hours of
sleep on weeknights; while 52 percent do on
weekends. A third of adults reportedly sleep no more
than six-and-a-half hours nightly.
In fact, disruption
in the sleeping patterns in the United States and in
the industrialized world is thought as one of the
main reasons that people are getting overweight.
People should start making behavioral and lifestyle
changes now for a better, healthier tomorrow.
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