Did you know that you need sleep to lose weight ? No, I am not talking about some magic pill or a magic potion that will help you lose weight while you sleep. I am talking about the fact that a lack of sleep may cause you weight gain and/or hamper your efforts to lose weight.

Why Do We Need To Sleep To Lose Weight? An Interesting Observation

 

sleep to lose weight Our society has become more and more fast paced. Juggling the kids and careers, working long hours or keeping more than one job to keep ahead, leaves precious little time for luxuries such as sleep.

Less than 25% of people get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. That means that 75% of people do not! This is a fascinating finding, considering that between 75 – 80% of our population is overweight. It makes me wonder if this is just and interesting coincidence. Or, do people truly need to sleep to lose weight or to prevent weight gain? It makes me wonder if these two percentages are directly related.

Research Supports The Notion That One Needs to Sleep To Lose Weight

By now it is well established that you require sleep to lose weight. The less you sleep, the more weight you are likely to gain. As well, if you are on a diet to lose weight the less you sleep the smaller is the chance of effective weight loss to happen. Research shows that:

  • people who sleep 6 hours increase their risk of gaining weight by 23%
  • people who sleep 5 hours increase their risk of gaining weight by 50%
  • people who sleep 4 hours increase their risk of gaining weight by 75%

The recommended amount of sleep is between 7 and 8 hours. This depends on the individual. It is believed that the sleep deprivation is perceived by the body as stress. At the time of stress your body refuses to give up its stored fuel (fat) for energy. As a result one feels tired and hungry and the body will do it’s utmost to gather more fuel. You eat more and make wrong food choices. Thus it seems that the reason you need to sleep to lose weight, or not to gain any, is that sleep relaxes the body. When it is relaxed, the body will slow down and willingly release the stored energy without you wanting to eat.

Biochemical Basis Of Why You Require Sleep To Lose Weight

Insufficient or impaired sleep appears to result in an imbalance of a number of hormones that influence our eating behaviour. Two of the major players are leptin and ghrelin. They pretty well dictate our satiety and hunger levels, respectively and they can also sabotage your diet to lose weight.

Leptin is a protein secreted by stored fat. Under normal circumstances, this protein shuts off your hunger and it makes you feel full. Leptin also stimulates your body to burn more fat.

Ghrelin is a protein that is secreted by the stomach when the stomach is empty. In a sense, it announces to the brain and the body that it is time to replenish because you are hungry.

When you lack sleep your ghrelin levels increase and you feel hungry. At the same time the leptin levels decrease and your hunger persists. Hence, the cravings. As you can see from this simple explanation you need to sleep to lose weight in order to keep "hormonal harmony" and primarily to keep your cravings and hunger pangs in check.

In addition, sleep deprivation also results in a diminished production of "feel god" chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine. The deficiency in these leads you to crave sugary and starchy foods.

 

In summary, a lack of sleep or interrupted sleep makes you tired, hungry and unhappy. It makes you crave the wrong types of foods. As well, it interferes with your body’s ability to burn fat for energy. As you are well aware, weight loss requires that you watch what you put in your mouth. As you can see you definitely need to sleep to lose weight so that you and not your hormones are in control of your food choices.

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