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“Beauty rest” isn’t just for looks
Filed Under (Diet, Dieting, Exercise, Weight Loss) by 
Cris Harshman on 23-01-2007
Tagged Under : Diet, Dieting, Exercise, fitness, health, Uncategorized, Weight Loss
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Loading ...special report: shhhh, this is your brain on sleep (@womenshealthmag.com)
I have a lot of difficulty going to sleep. It doesn’t matter whether I drink caffeine, what I eat during the day, whether I exercise - when my head hits the pillow, I am constantly thinking about things to do, things to research on the Internet, tasks to complete the next day - fortunately, now that I’ve beat my food addiction, the only thing I don’t think about is food. After reading this article and doing a little research at ScienceDaily, I’m convinced I need to change my sleep habits.
Here’s a short list of the effects sleep deprivation can have on your body:
- Disturbs your metabolism. Sleep deprivation affects the levels of leptin and ghrelin. Leptin, a hormone that indirectly signals satiety in the brain, was found to be 15% lower in sleep-deprived people; ghrelin, a hormone that signals hunger, was found to be 15% higher. Insulin and growth hormones were also affected, which could lead the body to crave calorie-rich foods.
- Increases anxiety. Both fatigue and the boost in cortizol (a hormone associated with stress) can lead to higher levels of stress and anxiety during the day. Cortizol also plays a part in weight gain, as it breaks down lipids and protiens in our bodies to release glucose, which in turn increases the body’s insulin production and fat storage.
- Other effects. Fatigue lowers brain functionality to match that of someone legally intoxicated; sleep deprivation and sleep apnea may have been linked with higher risk of cancer, heart disease, depression and can lower the immune system.
Sleep deprivation is only the beginning of a viscious cycle - depression and hormonal imbalance causes the body to gain weight, which causes sleep apnea, which strips the body of more sleep, which causes depression and weight gain, which…
So break the cycle - exercise before bedtime for a few minutes, take a hot shower at night, unplug from the Internet or TV, read a book - do something that relaxes you and get some rest. It does your body good.
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affects levels of leptin and ghrelin
Interesting. And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I had always attributed it to something else - The bodies need for energy.
A pet theory of mine is that when you dont get enough sleep during the night, the body hasn’t recharged(stored) enough energy for the next day. So as the day wears on, less and less of that reserve is left. At the same time you subconsiously know about the boost you get when you eat. The whole logic behind the Glycemic Index if you will. Given the fact that most people can’t take a nap in the middle of the day, they turn to this “trick” to provide a boost to get through the day. Which increases the over all caloric intake for the day, increasing thier weight.