Studies show that the less sleep you get, the more weight you will eventually carry.
Normally, people thought that those who do can't get a good night's sleep are often gaunt-like in appearance and they hypothesize that this must be the cause.
Surprisingly, it's not.
Thanks to recent groundbreaking studies, scientists found out that being deprived of sleep raises the level of hunger hormones and lowers the level of the hormones that make you feel full.
These effects can either lead to weight gain or over-eating.
This explains why chronologically sleep deprived-Americans are also overweight.
This could also be the reason why your son and daughter pack on the pounds in college.
The same can also be said of shift workers and new parents.
Researchers claim that by getting enough sleep is critical in controlling the individual's weight.
This is confirmed by nutritionists by advising dieters to sleep away their calories and increase the minutes in exercising.
It is general knowledge that obesity is due to eating too much.
Big portions of rich food mixed with little activity means gaining carbohydrates and fats that are not burned up.
Add sleep deprivation and it will only result in the inability of curbing the individual's appetite.
Sleep appears to be quite important in weight issues, according to researchers specializing on the connection of sleeping hours to the person's weight on the scale.
If that is true then the solution to America's problems with obesity may be resolved by figuring out the proper hours of sleep.
Obesity is an issue that must be resolved because it heightens the risk of heart disease, cancer, type 3 diabetes and other illnesses.
In fact, over the years, obesity has been the cause of many terminal cases.
By setting the issue of sleep alongside obesity, this is proven by the numbers provided by the National Sleep Foundation.
According to their studies, 63% of Americans do not get the required eight hours of sleep.
On average, an adult gets 6.
9 hours of sleep.
According to researchers, sleep deprivation triggers the hypothalamus (a region of the brain involved in regulating the appetite.
) In particular, two official hormones play a part in this food regulation - the leptin and the ghrelin.
Leptin and ghrelin both influence eating habits in different ways.
The former increases the eating levels, therefore making people feel more hungry whereas the latter stimulates the appetite.
Nonetheless, leptin is also referred to as the hormone that is responsible for informing the individual whether he is satisfied or full.
It releases the fat cells and informs the brain about the energy balance of the individual.
These hormones are given the nicknames of the yin and yang of hunger.
As one serves to be the accelerator, the other serves as the break.
There is also a discovery regarding the link in the body mass index and the sleeping hours of the individual.
This was confirmed by studies conducted at the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University.
Their focus group consisted of participants aged 30 to 60.
Here are the findings: - People who usually sleep for five hours every night have a 14.
9% higher level of ghrelin and 15.
5% lower level of leptin as opposed to those who get the required eight hours.
- People who sleep less than 7 hours have a higher body mass index.
- People's sleep is reflected in the hormones in their blood.
It is also said that sleep-deprived people eat more because they are more hungry since they are awake for longer hours.
They are also easily tempted wherever they go.
They accumulate more calories than what they actually burn in the hours that they are up.
Overweight people should basically get more sleep.
That means watching less TV and going to bed earlier than usual.
By getting enough sleep, stress is controlled as well.