today's video is on sleep and hormones and how a lack of sleep can impact our
weight we all live in accordance with the 24-hour internal clock that
regulates several functions within the body everything from our sleep/wake
cycle to our metabolism this master clock is located in the hypothalamus in
the brain and keeps track of time through external cues such as light and
darkness and meal timing when we get or don't get these cues hormones are
released accordingly with sleep being one of these cues not getting enough can
impact our hormones including those that regulate hunger and fat storage in
today's video we're going to talk about the different hormones that are affected
by a poor night's sleep how this ties in with our weight and then I'm going to
give you some tips on how to improve your sleep to maximize fat burning hey
guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is Kait I'm a
health coach and I post videos on a high fat nutrient-dense way of eating if you
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your new post every single day as I said before today we're talking about sleep
and hormones and their relationship to our weight there are five main hormones
that are affected when we get a poor night's sleep some of these hormones
increase and some of the decrease all of which can work against you if you're
trying to lose or maintain your weight I did a video a couple of weeks ago on
meal timing and meal frequency that ties in with today's topic so after you're
done watching this one you might want to check that one out as well we're going
to start off today talking about the five hormones that are affected by a
poor night's sleep and the role that they play and then we're going to finish
off with some tips on how to improve your sleep if that is something you
struggle with but anyways let's get into it the first hormone that is affected is
ghrelin ghrelin is known as the hunger and is responsible for stimulating
appetite when we do not get enough sleep ghrelin is consistently elevated
throughout the day up to 15% higher than usual meaning that we are 15% more
hungry throughout the day and I think most of us have experienced this I know
for myself personally every time I get a poor night's sleep the next day my
stomach is a bottomless pit and I think this is pretty obvious how it ties in
with our weight when we're more hungry we eat more
the second hormone affected is leptin leptin is essentially the opposite of
ghrelin ghrelin signals us when we're hungry so we eat and leptin signals us
when we're full so we stop it is referred to as the satiety hormone as it
decreases hunger it is made mainly by our fat cells and tells the brain that
we have enough stored fat and do not need to eat when we do not get enough
sleep however leptin can decrease up to 15.5% and again I think it's pretty
evident the impact this can have on our weight on one hand we have an increase
in the hormone that signals were hungry and on the other hand we have a decrease
in the hormone that signals were full oh that's not a good combination
the next hormone affected is insulin I talked about insulin a lot in the video
I mentioned earlier on meal timing of course when we eat or don't eat our
insulin levels adjust accordingly but not getting enough sleep can also impact
our insulin levels studies have shown that just one night of sleep deprivation
can make us temporarily insulin resistant which leads to elevated levels
of insulin circulating insulin resistance means that our cells are not
properly responding to insulin and this usually ends up happening after a long
period of time of elevated insulin the consequence of being insulin resistant
even temporarily is that when insulin levels are high we store more fat of
course this is a problem for someone who isn't usually insulin resistant but
their insulin sensitivity will go back to normal
when they get out of quit sleep again but for someone who is already insulin
resistant or working towards becoming more insulin sensitive sleep is even
more important and then human growth hormone human growth hormone is released
during deep sleep when we do not get enough total sleep we are probably
cutting our deep sleep short as well this hormone allows our tissues to grow
and repair it can also help you lose weight through its actions on to enzymes
which control the breakdown of stored fat
the first being lipogenesis which human growth hormone inhibits lipogenesis is
fat accumulation and human growth hormone inhibits this while also
encouraging the body to use fat for energy over glucose in this regard human
growth hormone seems to have the biggest impact on fat tissues around the abdomen
the second enzyme is hormone sensitive lipase which human growth hormone
assists hormone sensitive lipase is the breakdown of stored fat to use for
energy fasting also increases human growth hormone and I think this is why
people who start intermittent fasting see such great results with weight loss
and finally we have cortisol you probably know cortisol as the stress
hormone when we don't get a good night's sleep cortisol increases and this can
affect our weight for two reasons number one it increases our hunger and in
particular it can increase our cravings for sweet foods and number two it
signals the body to store energy as fat instead of using it immediately as you
can see even one poor night's sleep can have a pretty significant impact on our
weight and in turn our overall health in the last six months or so sleep has been
something that has really fascinated me and that I have been working to
prioritize if you have hit a weight loss plateau or just can't figure out why you
are not losing weight sleep might be the missing link
so what can we do to improve our sleep here are my top three tips number one
manage light exposure I mentioned at the start of this video how our bodies
operate on a 24 hour internal clock and how this clock is saying
based on cues light or lack of light is one of the most important kiss when we
are exposed to natural light in the morning and throughout the day this
signals our bodies that it's daytime and that we need energy and to stay awake
when the Sun sets in the evening and there is no more light this signals our
bodies it is time to go to sleep now when we mess with either cue either we
don't get enough natural light during the day or we get too much light after
sunset this can mess with our sleep blue light
specifically is of importance it is emitted off of our devices and I know
most of us are guilty of staring into our phones or laptops well into the
evening this sends the signal to our body that it's still daytime and that we
need to be awake so when you finally do get to bed you might find it hard to
fall asleep or to stay asleep to counter this you can use a pair of
blue light blocking glasses pop these on after sunset and 100 percent of blue
light is blocked meaning your sleep white cycle will not be thrown out of
whack by the light around you the pair I wear is from blue blocks and actually
right now they're having a huge end of financial year sale with 25% off
everything the reason I really like blue blocks well there's a few reasons
actually number one the products are really good
quality and they work I have noticed a significant increase in my deep sleep
since I started writing them consistently but also for every pair of
glasses they sell they donate a pair of reading glasses to someone in a
third-world country on top of that if you post a picture on
Instagram with their hashtag they will donate an additional pair they also have
free worldwide shipping on orders over $50 and free shipping within Australia
no minimum if you want to grab a pair I will put the link and the discount code
in the description box down below and conversely not getting enough natural
light throughout the day can send the signal to our bodies that it's nighttime
this can make you tired and even cause room a tab
to slow down as your body thinks it is time for bed sitting near our window
with natural light or trying to get outside as often as you can throughout
the day these are both things that can help
number two is meal timing the most important meal as it relates to your
sleep is your last meal of the day you want to have it at least three to four
hours before you plan on going to bed this gives your body enough time to
digest so that by the time you want to sleep your body can focus on repairing
and building tissues and not underling with food and number three is having a
consistent weight and sleep time try to wake up and go to sleep
at roughly the same time every day at least within an hour this way your body
will know what to expect essentially this will keep your clock
working on the same schedule day in and day out anyways guys that is all I have
for you today let me know in the comment section down below if you notice any
changes to your hunger after a poor night's sleep if you enjoyed this video
you might enjoy my video on meal timing and meal frequency that I mentioned
earlier you can check it out here if you want to catch up on my most recent
upload you can click here and if you want to check out my keto and carnivore
diet coaching programs you can click here thanks again guys
I'll see you next time bye