Powered by Max Banner Ads
It is well documented that having a good nights sleep can help provide us with many health benefits. These benefits can be both emotional and physical. The obvious benefits that we can derive from sleeping well are having more energy, concentration and happier moods.
However, sleeping well on a regular basis can also help us lose weight. Recent research has revealed that how many hours that we sleep can influence the chances of us becoming more overweight. Therefore the fewer hours we sleep the greater risk we have off putting more weight on. It is believed that the link between the hours we sleep and weight we gain is to do with two hormones that affect our appetite. These two hormones are called leptin and ghrelin. Leptin has the ability to curb our appetite whereas ghrelin has the ability to increase our hunger. When we do not get enough sleep this results in lowering the levels of the hormone leptin and increasing the levels of ghrelin.
A lack of sleep not only makes us feel more hungry it can also have an influence on what we eat and how we eat. For example, sleep deprivation increases our hunger for foods that are high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. These types of foods have little to no nutritional value and sugar is easily converted in the body to fat. Foods high in sugar also affect the body’s blood glucose levels by affecting its ability to produce insulin. Over the long term this can lead to diabetes. As you can see, not sleeping enough can make the challenge of you trying to lose weight a lot more difficult.
If you are trying to lose weight and you do not sleep well enough or you go to bed very late then it would benefit if you get into the habit of getting a good nights sleep. It is important to point out that sleep alone will not make you lose weight as it should be done in conjunction with eating a well balanced and healthy diet and taking regular exercise.