seven reasons why sleep helps you lose weight are you struggling to meet your
weight-loss goals you've tried everything eating less eating healthier
foods getting through exercise every day and yet you're still not seeing the
results you had been hoping for what could be left to try well here's one
thing to consider are you getting enough sleep at night while it may not seem
like an obvious connection that getting a healthy amount of sleep on a nightly
basis can benefit your mind and body in a variety of ways and as it turns out
one of those benefits is assisting with weight loss and maintaining a healthy
weight before we continue be sure to subscribe
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videos and content when it comes to weight loss most people think that diet
and exercise are the only major factors as it turns out there's a whole body of
evidence that suggests that the amount of sleep you get might be just as
important when it comes to managing your weight despite this it's an unfortunate
fact that a large number of people aren't getting enough sleep at night
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about 30 percent
of adults in the United States are sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night on
average which is well below the recommended amount of nightly bed rest
so how can a good night's sleep leave a positive impact on your weight loss
goals in her article written for health line Caroline Pollan outlines seven ways
in which sleep can help you lose weight and maintain a more healthy lifestyle
number one lack of sleep can lead to weight gain
because no two people are exactly the same the average person's exact sleep
requirements can vary from person to person however studies seem to indicate
that poor sleep habits can potentially lead to a higher body mass index weight
gain and even obesity according to one major review a lack of sleep can
potentially increase the likelihood of obesity in children by as much as 89
percent and 55 percent in adults in another study 16 adult participants
slept for only five hours a night for a total of five nights on average the
participants gained around 1.8 pounds or 0.8 - kilograms over the course of the
study with this in mind you can imagine what effect this kind of unhealthy sleep
pattern might have on a person's weight in the long term additionally it's been
shown that many sleep disorders such as sleep apnea can have their effects
worsened by weight gain leading to a vicious cycle as poor sleep causes you
to gain weight which in turn makes it even harder to sleep at night in other
words you may want to do what you can to establish a proper sleep schedule before
the negative effects start to take their toll number two sleep affects your
appetite according to data gathered from several studies many people who don't
get enough sleep or suffer from sleep deprivation experienced an increase in
appetite sometimes to an unhealthy degree this could potentially be linked
to two important hormones which regulates your body's hunger and
appetite known as ghrelin and leptin ghrelin is a hormone released in the
stomach that signals hunger in the brain and is at its highest when your stomach
is currently empty leptin is a hormone released by your body's fat cells
suppressing hunger and signaling fullness to the brain after you've eaten
when you aren't getting a proper amount of sleep at night your body produces
more ghrelin and less leptin as a result your appetite and overall feelings of
hunger are increased which can potentially lead to overeating lack of
sleep can also lead to higher productions of cortisol which might also
be linked to an increase in your body's appetite
number three sleep prevents unhealthy cravings as anyone who's ever pulled an
all-nighter can probably attest a lack of sleep affects your mind just as much
as it affects your body when you're not getting enough sleep your brain can find
it more difficult to make healthy choices and the temptation to snack on
tasty but fattening foods can be harder to resist for a sleep-deprived brain
this is because sleep deprivation dulls the activity in your brain's frontal
lobe which is usually responsible for your minds ability to make decisions and
regulate self-control additionally some studies have seemed to indicate that the
reward centers of your brain receive more stimulation from food when you're
low on sleep which can potentially lead to overindulgence in other words if you
find yourself experiencing some unusual breakfast cravings first thing in the
morning it could be a sign that you're not getting enough sleep number 4 lack
of sleep can increase your calorie intake by the same token as the previous
fact to people who aren't getting enough sleep are likely to consume more
calories than people who are well-rested according to the results of one study 12
male participants operating on four hours of sleep per night ate an average
of 559 more calories the following day compared to a control group operating on
a full eight hours of sleep this increase in calories can potentially be
explained as a result of the other points we've already mentioned such as
the increased appetite and unhealthy food cravings that can occur as a result
of poor sleeping habits in other words getting a decent night's sleep can
potentially prevent you from accidentally overeating as well as give
you the brainpower necessary to make healthy choices regarding what you eat
as well number five sleep might affect your
resting metabolism for those not in the know your resting metabolism rate or rmr
refers to the number of calories your body burns when you're completely at
rest a person's resting metabolic rate is
affected by a number of different factors including
age height weight and muscle mass another factor that can affect your rmr
is sleep deprivation which should probably come as no surprise to anyone
who's made it this far into the list in one study a group of 15 men stayed awake
for a full 24 hours after this period had finished the participants were found
to have resting metabolic rates that were a full 5 percent lower than they
normally would have after a proper night's rest number 6
sleep can lead to better exercise this one's probably a little bit obvious but
it's worth mentioning when you get enough sleep your body and mind have
more energy which can in turn lead to better exercise a lack of sleep can lead
to daytime fatigue which can potentially zap your energy and motivation when it
comes to working out additionally you're more likely to get tired earlier during
bouts of physical activity
sleep helps prevent insulin resistance insulin is the hormone that is
responsible for moving sugar from your body's bloodstream to the cells that use
it as energy when you're not getting enough sleep this can potentially cause
your cells to develop a high insulin resistance as a result of increased
insulin resistance more sugar remains in your body's bloodstream which requires
your body to produce more insulin in order to compensate when our body has an
access of insulin you start to feel hungrier and your body begins storing
more of its calories as fat insulin resistance can be seen as a precursor
for both type 2 diabetes and unhealthy weight gain if that's not enough studies
have suggested that only a few nights of poor sleep might be all it takes to
cause your cells to become insulin resistant so make sure you're getting a
healthy amount of sleep every night whenever possible to prevent this from
occurring if you're trying to maintain a healthy
weight but don't find yourself meeting your weight-loss goals
it might be beneficial to look into other factors beyond diet and exercise
sometimes a good night's sleep can be the last piece of the puzzle that is
losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle did you enjoy this video
anything you think we may have missed or overlooked be sure to let us know in the
comments and keep the conversation going if you have any friends or family who
tend to burn the candle at both ends be sure to share this with them as well
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