Lack of Sleep Leads to Weight Gain

Lack of sleep makes the body low on energy and thus, lethargic. Apart from this it makes us skip all the exercises in the day and to add to it, we indulge in eating sugary and fatty food. Once we gain weight, these tendencies tend to continue and harm all efforts to lose the extra pounds also.

Many experts have researched and concluded that that if the body gets less sleep than it needs the appetite for high calorie food increases. The whole idea to eat healthy is disrupted and we thus, put on weight. The human body has many hormones and two of these affect the appetite and the satiety levels. Ghrelin results in eating more and the other Leptin stops the appetite and encourages expenditure of energy. Lack of sleep results in increased levels of Ghrelin and reduced levels of Leptin, which means we eat much more than the body wants.

Sleep deprived people eat high calorie food and put on weight. The extra calories that we consume tend to accumulate around the stomach. The increased waistline is very dangerous as it increases the risk of type II diabetes. Insulin levels get altered in the body due to less of sleep thus, increasing the risk of diabetes.

The body’s tolerance for glucose is said to decrease when it does not get sufficient sleep. Ideally the glucose levels act perfectly when one gets about nine hours of sleep at night. It is not that if you sleep less for one night you tend to put on weight as the next day you will be eating sugary food. This causes a problem if lack of sleep becomes a routine. The extent of the problem when one sleeps less can be controlled by being careful what you eat. Sleeping less after a healthy diet can still lead to increased weight but the amount can be controlled. An unhealthy diet with insufficient sleep hours apart from causing weight gain makes it extremely difficult to reduce weight.

The problem of less sleep and obesity is also noticed in children. Doctors say that if you sleep properly it is not certain that you will lose weight but this is a fact, lack of sleep will lead to weight gain. Sound sleep is very essential for the body to function the way it has to.

To get a proper sleep one needs to take proper rest. The body needs it and you need to give it, there is no alternative to it. One should exercise early in the day and not before bedtime. Exercise is said to help one sleep properly, only if done at the right time. One needs to eat right, like adequate proteins. Whole grains and fibre rich food is very essential for the body. Many people think alcohol calms you but if had near bedtime it tends to disrupt sleep. It increases calories and results in less sleep thus, the weight gain.

The key to a healthy body is to give it sufficient sleep and rest. The body works like machinery and it also needs its share of care and rest to keep working the way it is designed to.