Is Your Lack Of Sleep Making You Fat?

Have you been gaining weight, or struggling with losing weight, despite efforts to eat balanced and healthy meals and to exercise more? Anyone who has ever found losing weight a challenge will say that there's more to it than popular opinion has us believe, and they would, as it turns out, be right. Sleep is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to weight gain and weight loss.

How does your sleep-wake cycle affect your weight, and how can you turn it around to your advantage?

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

Sleep is as vital a need as water, food, and oxygen — without it, you can quite literally die. Chronic sleep deprivation causes issues far beyond that crankiness we all occasionally experience after a bad night's sleep, increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, depression, colds and the flu, and accidents. And that's just for starters!

Despite that fact that most people have both heard that a lack of sleep is bad for their health and experienced the effects of sleep deprivation first-hand, the National Sleep Foundation still reports that 45 percent of Americans say that they're either not getting enough sleep, or that they're not getting "good-enough" sleep.

Sleep needs vary slightly from one individual to another, but National Sleep Foundation recommends that all adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, depending on what allows them to function optimally.

Though not taking care of your sleep health can indirectly impact your very life span, that's unlikely to motivate you to change your sleep patterns now. (That's thanks, of course, to the same principle that causes some to light up another cigarette as they worry about terrorist attacks, while not giving the idea of dying from smoking another thought. Since it's not going to happen right now, you don't have to think about it — right?) Something that may, however, make you want to change your habits pronto is the fact that your lack of sleep could be making you fat.

READ What Can You Do To Improve Sleep Quality?

Weight Gain? Try The "ZZZZZ Diet"

University of Warwick researchers found that sleep deprivation doubles obesity risk. University of Michigan and University of Texas studies both separately revealed a compelling link between lack of sleep and overweight in children and adolescents. The less sleep a person gets, all these studies show, the higher their risk of gaining unhealthy amounts of weight.

Why A Lack Of Sleep Can Make You Fat, And What To Do About It

It's clear that there is enough scientific evidence to prove that there is indeed a link between weight gain and sleep deprivation. On first sight, however, that link appears completely illogical. Are you wondering what on Earth would lead you to gain weight if you don't get enough sleep? Quite a lot of different factors play a role, as it happens. Let's take a peel.

Sleep Deprivation, Lack Of Energy, And Food

What do you do the morning after a really bad night's sleep? If you're a coffee drinker, you may chug down one mug after another, secretly wishing that you had a coffee IV instead. You'll also, however, instinctively crave those foods that will provide you with a quick energy boost that enables you to actually stay awake.

This scenario plays out at a hormonal level: when you're sleepy, your levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin go up, while your leptin levels dip. These altered hormone levels become a shining beacon that tells your brain to eat junk foods. In the longer term, as your so-called "sleep debt" builds up, your very metabolism could be altered by your unfavorable sleep pattern.

Who Wants To Exercise When They're Zonked Out?

Nuff said, really! Your body doesn't function nearly as well on insufficient sleep as it does when you are well-rested. When you're sleep deprived, you're more likely to use an elevator than take the stairs, more likely to get in your car than walk, and more likely to sit on the couch with some chips than you are to go to the gym. It does not take peer-reviewed studies to conclude that sleep deprivation leads to sedentary lifestyles,

Your Brain On Insufficient Sleep

A lack of sleep affects your ability to think and to concentrate, as we all know. Just like airport security workers who hadn't had enough shut-eye were significantly less able to detect high-risk items, as one study showed, the rest of us are less able to stop and think "hey, perhaps this donut isn't such a great idea after all". Sleep deprived people are also more likely to have a foul mood, and many use food to comfort themselves.

READ Early Bird Vs Night Owl: The Fascinating Science Behind Sleep-Wake Patterns

The Path To Better Sleep And A Flatter Tummy

To improve your sleep health, and indirectly, perhaps, your weight, try these tips:

• Commit yourself to developing a predictable routine. Yes, that means going to bed at roughly the same time each night. Make sure you get those seven to nine hours of sleep, depending on how you have found you function best.
• Begin winding down before going to bed. Get yourself in the mood for sleep by creating a bedtime ritual that includes such things as having a nice cup of warm milk, taking a shower, and reading a book. Keep stimulating things like alcohol, coffee, and internet use out of your life during the hours before you go to sleep. Use your bedroom only for sleep, sex, and other relaxing activities like reading novels (not tomorrow's work schedule!) and talking with your partner.
• Exercise in the early evening to discharge your physical energy and relieve some of the stress you probably suffer from.
• Can't sleep, despite having a healthy schedule? See your doctor about it!