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Want to lose weight by
sleeping? Well then don’t just count calories. You might want to count sheep as
well.
Recent studies have shown
that you can lose weight by sleeping because sleep deprivation disrupts a series of metabolism and
hormonal processes. It causes increased hunger and affects the body’s metabolism making it
difficult to lose and control weight.
Lack of sleep causes a
hormone called cortisol, which controls the appetite, to take excess calories and store them as
excess body fat. In addition, sleep loss interferes with carbohydrate metabolism which may cause
high blood glucose levels. The excess amount of glucose encourages the overproduction of insulin,
which may lead to diabetes or even obesity.
Furthermore, sleep
deprivation can promote weight gain by affecting our behavior. People who lack sleep tended to
crave sweets or high carbohydrate, high fat food with low nutrient value. They tend to snack on
chips, cakes, pastries, burgers, fries, soft drinks, etc. Though the short-term rise in blood
sugar, brought on by these snacks, gives a surge of energy, the extra calories are not needed by
the body and must be stored as body fat.
These calories are not so
easily shed than taken. When they are sleep deprived, people are often too tired to exercise or
they work out less intensely than usual. They commonly feel exhausted and lack the energy and
motivation to do even simple exercises. They rather eat, than go physical. In due time, the
calories that are gained and not easily burned are deposited in the body as fat.
Some people may require
less hours of sleep to be in top condition during the day; while others need more than 10 hours.
But experts agree that most people need at least eight hours of sleep each night to give themselves
enough energy to exercise, eat right and keep off those unwanted pounds. Yet, according to a poll
sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation, only 30 percent of adults get eight or more hours of
sleep on weeknight's; while 52 percent do on weekends. A third of adults reportedly sleep no more
than six-and-a-half hours nightly.
In fact, disruption in
the sleeping patterns in the United States and in the industrialized world is thought as one of the
main reasons that people are getting overweight. People should start to lose weight by sleeping by
making behavioral and lifestyle changes now for a better, healthier
tomorrow.
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