How much sleep do you get? It sounds surprising, but the amount of sleep you get can directly affect your body weight. The body mass index of populations has consistently increased, resulting in higher weights and obesity rates. Researchers have concluded that poor quality and restricted sleep can cause metabolic disorders and weight gain.
Therefore, you must have an ideal bed and environment for a good night’s sleep for better health and weight management. If this is a priority, choose the best mattress for a side sleeper with shoulder pains. It provides better spinal alignment and reduced back pain and snoring. Here’s how sleep is linked to your body weight.
You Eat More
When you lack sleep at night, you tend to eat more because of an increased appetite. Appetite increases because your body is on high alert. After all, it thinks that something is wrong, preventing you from getting sleep. It, therefore, tends to want to store more calories in the quest to preserve life.
Leptin and ghrelin are the neurotransmitters thought to be responsible for the body to feel either hungry or full. Studies have shown that short sleep results in the increase of ghrelin and the decrease of leptin.
Lack of enough sleep makes the body crave foods that have high calories and carbohydrates.
Therefore, the less you sleep, the more you eat, increasing body weight over time. You’ll make better food choices when you get a good night’s sleep.
Your Metabolism is Off
Good sleep helps your body system and hormones self-regulate and relax. A full night’s sleep is also nutrition for the brain. With little sleep, your body produces more cortisol which makes your body save more energy for the hours you’re awake.
Lack of good sleep causes your body to have unregulated metabolism, making it harder to digest food. This is a big cause of weight gain because your metabolism burns fewer calories leading to more fat storage in your body.
The more your body stores fats, the heavier you become because your metabolism is low. Your metabolism is quite dependent on how much sleep you get, among other things, so try to have regular restful nights.
You Move Less
Lack of enough sleep will make you feel tired and groggy, and, as a result, you will move less. You become less motivated to go to the gym and instead hit the snooze button to get more sleep.
To get a good night’s sleep, incorporate exercise into your daily regimen. This is because regular exercise will help you fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep. Lack of movement throughout the day causes your body to burn fewer calories and increase weight.
While going for a brisk walk around your neighborhood helps sleep patterns and weight, doing intense exercises a few times a week can be of great benefit. Avoid exercising before going to bed as this can affect your sleep by increasing the production of stress hormones (cortisol).
You Make Bad Decisions
When you deprive yourself of sleep, your brain struggles to stay active and alert. Over time, your brain suffers cognitive impairment, destabilizing your moods. It can make you irritable, resulting in bad decisions.
A full night’s sleep helps your brain rejuvenate and detoxify, improving cognitive function. Your memory becomes better, and the body is less stressed as the cortisol levels lower. Having enough sleep will also increase levels of focus and the ability to heal and feel happy.
Sleep deprivation can cause weight gain as your body will be yearning for high-calorie foods and carbohydrates. This leads to a tendency to eat less healthy foods, which causes your body to store more fats to energize you when you’re awake. Ensure that you regularly get seven to nine hours of sleep to feel healthier and happier.
Keep Your Weight in Check
Gaining weight can result from many factors, but among them is the lack of a good night’s sleep. If you find yourself adding weight but aren’t sleeping enough, you need to recheck your sleeping habits to attract better sleep.
Ensure that you eat the right foods, sleep under the right conditions, and exercise. Be aware that, when sleep-deprived, your body will want to have more calories to keep you energized when awake, which can be a reason for the weight gain. Eat the right foods and avoid alcohol and caffeine as they can make you spend a long time in bed without sleeping.
