Our fast paced world can definitely be blamed in part for many peoples extra weight. One weight gain factor that many people don't consider is their sleep patterns.
Recent studies have shown that sleep deprivation disrupts a series of metabolism and hormonal processes. It causes increased hunger and affects the bodies metabolism making it difficult to lose and control weight.
Lack of sleep causes a hormone called cortisol, which controls the appetite, to take calories and store them as excess body fat. In addition, lack of quality sleep 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 weight gain and possibly even diabetes.
Even a little 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 will not go easily. And of course if you haven't had much sleep your probably too tired to exercise or you work out less intensely than usual. Most likely you will feel exhausted and lacking the energy and motivation to do even simple exercises. The calories that are gained and not easily burned are deposited in the body as fat.
The amount of sleep your body requires to function normally will depend on several factors, your age, and how in shape you are being the biggest factors. 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.
According to a poll sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation, only 30 percent of adults get eight or more hours of sleep on weeknights; 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 North America and in the industrialized world is thought as one of the main reasons that more and more people are overweight. Its evident that if you want to lose weight it really has to be a lifestyle change to make it easier to lose weight and keep that weight off.