dont let lack of sleep ruin your weight loss plan
Overweight individuals often have this dilemma: 'It's not that I don't want to lose weight, it's just that things often don't go as planned. I exercise regularly, but I still can't slim down. Is it my fault?' If you're troubled by this, check whether you've completed this formula: 'Exercise + Healthy Diet + Adequate Sleep = Weight Loss.' Many runners who want to lose weight may not pay attention to 'sleep,' which is one of the reasons why their weight loss efforts are ineffective!
1. Lack of Sleep is Closely Related to Obesity
We need to spend one-third of our lives sleeping, but modern life is too exciting, with too many external temptations and busy work schedules, leading to reduced sleep. Research has proven that sleep is closely related to health, and insufficient sleep is a significant cause of obesity!
Sleep is a very important part of life. Adults should get an average of 7-8 hours of sleep per night. However, with the accelerating pace of life, people are tending to sleep less. Patel and other experts systematically reviewed studies from 1966 to 2007 on the relationship between short sleep duration and obesity, finding that short sleep duration may increase the risk of future obesity. Many studies suggest that the relationship between adult sleep duration and obesity mostly follows a U-shaped curve, while the relationship between children's sleep duration and obesity is linearly negatively correlated. Specifically, adults who sleep less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours per night may have an increased risk of obesity. Studies have shown that an average of 7.7 hours of sleep per night has the lowest incidence of obesity. Children in their growth and development stages need even more sleep. Both adult and child studies indicate that insufficient sleep may be a risk factor for obesity.
2. Why Does Sleeping Less Make You Gain Weight?
We all know that weight loss occurs when energy expenditure exceeds energy intake, leading to weight loss. Conversely, obesity occurs when energy expenditure is less than energy intake, leading to weight gain. Current research has found that lack of sleep disrupts our biological clock, causing dysregulation of the body's neuroendocrine system, which may affect the balance of energy intake and expenditure, ultimately leading to obesity.
Sleep is a complex physiological process involving many hormones that regulate internal homeostasis. Research suggests that sleep duration is an important factor affecting the levels of leptin and ghrelin, which are directly related to obesity. So, what exactly are these two things?
1. Leptin
Leptin, as the name suggests, is a hormone that makes people thin! It is also known as the obesity hormone or slim hormone. Its main function is to regulate the intake of sugar, fat, and energy, prompting the body to reduce food intake, increase energy expenditure, and inhibit the synthesis of fat cells, thereby reducing body weight. This means that if our body secretes a certain amount of leptin, it can help us avoid gaining weight! This is definitely my favorite hormone, bar none!
Researchers had subjects sleep only 4 hours for 6 consecutive days, resulting in a 26% decrease in leptin levels! Another study found that sleeping only 4 hours for 2 consecutive days resulted in an 18% decrease in leptin levels! Another study showed that reducing the average sleep time from 8 hours to 5 hours per night reduced leptin levels by 15.5%! These data all indicate that insufficient sleep leads to a decrease in leptin levels, making it difficult to lose weight!
2. Ghrelin
Ghrelin, a term that sounds high-end, is a 'hunger hormone' that regulates the gastrointestinal tract. Research suggests that under the stimulation of the hunger hormone ghrelin, the brain will crave high-calorie foods regardless of how much food we have already eaten. This explains why we still want to eat a couple of chocolates even after a full meal.
Similarly, researchers had subjects sleep only 4 hours for 2 consecutive days, resulting in a 22% increase in ghrelin levels. Reducing the average sleep time from 8 hours to 5 hours per night increased ghrelin levels by 14.9%! This also indicates that lack of sleep increases appetite, leading to unnecessary energy intake and ultimately causing obesity.
3. Staying Up Late Makes You More Likely to Eat Late-Night Snacks
Another well-known fact is that staying up late makes you more likely to feel hungry because the time between dinner and sleep is extended. This makes you more likely to engage in late-night eating, which adds extra calories and offsets the calories you worked hard to burn through exercise.
3. Conclusion
When sleep duration is less than 7-8 hours, or when sleep rhythms are disrupted, the levels of various regulatory hormones in the body fluctuate abnormally. This leads to a decrease in hormones that suppress appetite and promote energy expenditure, and an increase in hormones that enhance appetite, ultimately leading to obesity. All of this points to one truth: stop staying up late, stop browsing WeChat in bed, and go to sleep if you want to lose weight!