Well it may not make you skinny, but skimping out on sleep is definitely NOT helping you lose weight, feel robust or have vitality in your life. There is so much in the news lately about sleep and obesity. It is affecting children and adults at staggering rates. Being healthy isn't just about the food that you eat or don't eat. Being healthy is about taking care of yourself and giving your body what it needs.
A study done by scientist at the University of Chicago in 1999, discovered that inadequate sleep (4 hours a night) produced changes in glucose levels and endocrine function in less than a week! Yes, that is correct, LESS THAN A WEEK of insufficient sleep accelerated disease and the aging process! Some of the studies participants even showed signs of diabetes at the end of the sleep study. The director of the study, Dr. Eve Van Cauter, suspects that "chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the onset but could also increase the severity of age-related aliments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and memory loss."
Lack of sleep can cause you to gain weight in many ways. When you are tired, you are wired to make poor food choices. Your brain will actually choose bad food over good food! What do you eat when you are tired? Coffee? Sugar? Fast food? Your brain is wired to choose bad foods when you haven't had enough rest making weight loss and health an even bigger struggle.
Inadequate sleep also increases cortisol into your system. This hormone is designed to help you cope with stress. When you have too much cortisol in your blood stream, from stress or lack of sleep, it slows digestion, interferes with thyroid function (an organ in charge of metabolism and energy), increases blood sugar, and suppresses the immune system. Not a good recipe for health at all!
Sleep is also where your body heals and regenerates. If you are already struggling with diabetes, digestive disorders, depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, or any other ailment or disease, you need sleep to heal. Pain and disease are ways for your body to tell you that something is wrong, when you listen and respond, you increase your ability to heal dramatically.
We live in a go, go, go society. I challenge you to slow down and put sleep at the top of this list along with diet and nutrition. What is more important? An extra hour of TV or internet at night or getting enough sleep to help you lose weight, feel robust, full of life, slow aging and disease? I think the answer is pretty obvious. Unfortunately, napping doesn't change the outcome much. The body needs uninterrupted sleep to get the full benefits of health. So my health tip of the week is get in bed and know that you are doing your body and your mind a favor!!
Sweet Dreams :)
