Lack of Sleep and Weight Gain
A lot of people may not be aware between the correlation of gaining weight and lack of sufficient sleep and rest. Recent research findings are leaning on the possibility that not getting enough sleep everyday can cause a person to gain weight and even become obese.
There are many effects of not sleeping well, or not sleeping enough. Some of these effects include:
- Lowering down of leptin levels, a protein that controls a person’s appetite
- Fatigue
- Type 3 diabetes
- Abdominal obesity
- Elevated blood sugar
- Heart disease and stroke
- High triglycerides
- Low levels of HDL cholesterol
Lack of Sleep Leads to Weight Gain
One of the effects of insufficient sleep that results in weight gain is largely due to the fact that when a person lacks sleep, levels of leptin are lowered. Leptin is a protein that is known to regulate a person’s appetite. When it is lowered, people have a tendency to eat more. When this happens regularly, chances are that the person who lacks sleep often develop a lack of control in eating and becomes overweight.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are also diseases that are often closely linked to obesity.
How to Handle It
Lack of sleep causes weight gain but there are a lot that can be done to avoid this, mostly focusing on ways on how a person can sleep well.
- Sleep only when feeling sleepy.
- Avoid taking naps especially in the afternoon.
- Develop a nightly, sleeping routine
- Refrain from exercising at least four hours before bedtime
- Only use your bed for sleeping to avoid distractions and to associate it with sleeping