It amazes me how common sleep deprivation is our society. It’s almost accepted as a norm. People regularly brag about how they are functioning on six or four or two hours of sleep and still making it through the day. The effects of sleep deprivation are nothing to brag about. One detrimental effect is potential for weight gain. According to sleep-deprivation.com, when an individual experiences a lack of sleep, levels of Grehlin (a hormone that increases appetite) increases causing greater appetite, and levels of Leptin (a hormone that suppresses appetite) decrease. Regardless of diet and exercise, it’s possible that some obesity is caused, or made worse, by sleep deprivation.
Another problem is sleep apnea, a disorder in which an individual stops breathing while sleeping due to blockage in the airways. Although many view this simply as a snoring problem, individuals with sleep apnea sometimes don’t ever reach those stages of deep sleep which can consequently prohibit them from rejuvenating and potentially losing those few extra pounds.
So take the time to treat your body well. Get in those recommended eight hours of sleep each night. Don’t skimp on catching a few Z’s, or it may come back to haunt in the form of weight gain. For more information, read up on this interesting article USA Today posted about obesity and sleep loss.
I love sleep. Luckily, I have roommates that tend to go to bed fairly early so it makes it a little easier for me to crawl into bed at night. If only every day it was actually possible to get 8 hours. Sigh… life would be awesome.
so true. once…i…get…done…with….school…
Sleep, sleep..oh many how I forgot how it feels to have a goodnight sleep!!
This is terrific information! Unfortunately, it won’t be happening at all tonight, but I’m praying over break I will be able to sleep, at least a little.