Do you exercise, do not eat, measure every grain, drink the right amount of water, are you healthy, and still do not see the effects on weight? Body weight is influenced by many factors. Among other things, the amount and quality of sleep. How many hours should we sleep so that our efforts are not wasted?
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The less sleep, the higher the BMI
Sleep is one of the basic physiological needs. If we do not sleep well, the body has no chance to regenerate. Recently, the average amount of sleep has fallen below 7 hours, and about 30% of adults sleep less than 6 hours a day. It has been found that most people who do not get enough sleep also have a higher BMI, including a higher body fat content.
The University of Chicago researches what happens in the body after four days of poor sleep. It is not a long period, but some changes have already been noticed. The proper use of insulin is disturbed and sensitivity to this hormone has decreased by over 30%. Why is its level so important in the context of obesity? Insulin helps remove lipids and fatty acids from the bloodstream.
Why does not enough sleep increase the risk of obesity?
The effect of sleep on the increased risk of obesity can also be linked to the hunger-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. The more ghrelin we produce, the more hungry we become, we reduce the number of calories we burn and the more fat we store. Leptin, on the other hand, is responsible for reducing hunger and increasing energy expenditure. After a short sleep, the body produces less leptin and more ghrelin, so when we are sleepy we are more hungry.
Hunger also affects the increased activity of the amygdala, the region of reward mechanisms. When we are sleepy, we use high-calorie food more often and we are less able to resist it, which would not happen if we slept continuously for 7-9 hours a day.
Not the genes, but the external environment
How much we sleep is influenced by the external environment, not our genes. This was confirmed by studies conducted on twins. One person in the pair slept less than 7 hours, and the other 7 – 9 hours. The twins in the first group had an average higher BMI by 1 point, ie 3 – 4 kg. The same study also found that sleeping 9 hours a day did not produce better results and could even be linked to a higher BMI.
Remember, however, that not only the quantity but also the quality counts. If the body is stimulated during sleep with external factors, it will also affect our body and we will be sleepy.
What can we do to improve the quality of sleep and thus facilitate the path to your dream figure?
- When you wake up, get up right away and open the curtains or blinds. Then your melatonin levels will drop and in the evening it will be higher and it will help you fall asleep
- Avoid coffee or pre-workout supplements with a lot of caffeine in the second half of the day
- For dinner, try to eat meals that consist of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is also good to see products rich in tryptophan: dairy products, fish, seafood, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, turkey, cherries or kiwi
- If possible, do not do intense workouts before going to bed. Fatigue after training generally helps to fall asleep, but there is a surge of cortisol, so we do not rest. Before going to bed, leisurely exercises such as yoga or stretching work well. However, if you cannot do your workout sooner, eat a tryptophan-rich meal after exercising
- The last meal should be eaten 2-3 hours before bedtime, if it will be later, it is good if the meal was liquid, e.g. a cocktail or soup
- Do not fall asleep in front of the TV or radio on. Light and sound will still activate your brain to work. Also, give up using your phone or tablet at least 1 hour before going to bed. However, if you do not want to give it up, download the application that will enable the reading mode and change the colors of your device. Some telephones can also be set to activate this mode at certain times. It is worth setting it 3 hours before bedtime
- Ventilate the bedroom for at least 20 minutes before going to bed. At night, our body temperature drops, so the ambient temperature should also be lower. Sleeps best at 19 – 20 degrees. In addition, the availability of oxygen will increase, we will get rid of stuffiness and bacteria. It is also worth covering the blinds
- It is also worth giving up drinking alcohol before going to bed. Maybe we fall asleep faster, but then the production of urine increases and such sleep is often interrupted for a visit to the toilet and thermoregulation is disturbed. A good solution is to drink alcohol-free beer, as hops have a calming effect. You can also find supplements on the market that can help us improve the quality of sleep. Let’s just remember to first take care of the other factors described above, and only if it does not help, reach for supplements. You can take melatonin, hops or tryptophan. Such a supplement can extend the duration of sleep by 7 – 12 minutes. It may not be much, but over a period of a few weeks it can make a significant difference.
I hope these tips will help you improve your sleep quality and regenerate your body, which will have a further impact on your weight loss.
Bibliography:
- Sharma S., Kavuru M., Sleep and Metabolism: An Overview, 2019
- Cauter E., Spiegel K., Tasali E., Leproulta R., Metabolic consequences of sleep and sleep loss, 2008
- Watson F., Buchwald D., Vitiello M., Noonan C., Goldberg J., A Twin Study of Sleep Duration and Body Mass Index, 2010
- Potter G., Cade J., Hardie L., Longer sleep is associated with lower BMI and favorable metabolic profiles in UK adults: Findings from the National diet and Nutrition Survey, 2017
- Ferrantia R.. Marventano S., Catellano S., Giogianni G., Nolfo F., Rametta S., Matalone M., Mistretta A., Sleep quality and duration is related with diet and obesity in young adolescent living in Sicily, Southern Italy, 2016
- Koblańska M., Sleep in artificial light promotes the development of obesity, 2019
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Amanda Pawlak Dietician
Dietitian specializing in the nutrition of pregnant women, nursing mothers, small and large children, and how the diet affects fertility. Co-author of the e-book on nutrition for children “Every bite makes sense”. She is on Instagram as parents.2be, devoted to a healthy approach to diet. She loves to cook and there is little space in her kitchen for meat. Privately, she is passionate about traveling on her own, vanlife, environmental protection and physical activity.
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