by JCC Association
Hormones
Ghrelin and Leptin: These opposing hormones play an active
role in appetite and can get seriously imbalanced in a sleep-deprived body.
When sleep slips away, Ghrelin (hunger stimulant) production increases while
Leptin (appetite suppressant) decreases, leading to an increased appetite.
Cortisol: The secretion of this appetite regulator is compromised when sleep is
lost, leaving the body on its own to determine whether it’s truly hungry. Most
often, the body fails with this task and a person is left with a perpetual
feeling of hunger. If the hunger is pacified with food, overeating and weight
gain are generally the result.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep
Apnea (periodic and brief closing of air passages) causes interrupted sleeping.
This could translate to eight hours of shut-eye, but only four hours of actual
sleep. Researchers theorize that this interrupted schedule produces a
resistance to our degree-of-fullness signal where the stomach sends a message
to the brain that it’s full, but the brain isn’t “taking messages” and results
in overeating.
As Kenneth
Wright of the University of Colorado’s Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory
stated, “… when people get insufficient sleep, it leads them to eat more than
they actually need.”
In fact, our carbohydrate craving increases by as much as
45%! It’s no wonder that when we fall below our individual sleep requirements,
our chances of gaining weight can increase as much as 50%–70% depending on how
much and how long we’ve been deprived. To exacerbate this problem, sleep loss
may interfere with our body’s ability to metabolize carbohydrates, leading to
heightened levels of blood sugar, excess insulin, and increased fat storage.
So, if
you’re looking for the magic “pill” for weight loss, look no further than your
“pill”ow and catch some ZzZzZzz’s!
Sources: WebMD, Huffington Post
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