Numerous studies have shown that insufficient sleep affects the metabolism of our body resulting in increased body weight. Specifically, the short sleep duration (less than 6 hours) and excessive sleep (more than 8 hours) can increase your weight gradually and lead to obesity. Many factors contribute to how sleep affects your weight.
How does inadequate sleep affect our body?
- It interferes with the metabolism of carbohydrates increasing levels of blood sugar and insulin levels, which results in storage of body fat
- It reduces levels of leptin, causing increased appetite for sweets
- It reduces the levels of growth hormone which regulates the proportion of fat and muscle mass in the body
- It can lead to inoulinoresistance contributing to type 2 diabetes
- Can raise blood pressure
- May increase the risk for cardiovascular disease
- Reduces the immune system
- Increasing levels of stress in our bodies.
Even in young, healthy people, lack of sleep by 3-4 hours a week has significant effect on the body.
What is the best time to sleep?
The best times to go to sleep and wake up rested is between 9-12pm for ages 18-45 years. If you sleep after 12, even with adequate sleep you may not have achieved the maximum relaxation. This is because everyone has a biological clock that regulates various functions of the body, even during sleep hours.
Specifically, from 11 pm until 3am the blood circulation is mainly concentrated in the liver where the process of detoxification of the body takes place. So when you do not sleep during these hours the process of detoxification is limited. Eg. If you sleep at 11pm There are 4 full hours for detoxification of our body, and if you sleep at 2 am we only have 1 hour! So, if you sleep after 3 a.m. then our body does not detoxify thereby releasing toxins known to have adverse effects on our health.
So the key to proper weight loss is to "eat less, move more and sleep well ...!"
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