Sleep is one of the most essential aspects of our healthy lifestyle to keep our most important activities in process and without it we wouldn’t be able to function neither physically nor mentally. When one doesn’t get enough sleep then one can be irritable, lack in concentration and feel weak. But, our busy lives often delay sleep and this effect is carried on to the next day’s life where we become weak in taking good decision or even the efficiency to work slows down.
What one eats and drink during the day significantly affect the sleep, along with other lifestyle habits.
The secret of good health is having sound sleep. Sleep plays a vital role in keeping the body fresh and healthy; those people who sleep less than needed are often unhealthy and easily irritated. It disturbs their digestive system and they invite diseases like diabetes and heart problems in the near future.
Linkage between Sleep and Weight Loss
Poor Sleep Transforms Fat cells
One might have very well experienced that in case having a bad sleep the previous night one feels headache, dizziness and restlessness. It’s not just with our brain and body that feels, it is similar with our fat cells. When our body is sleep deficit, it suffers from “metabolic grogginess.” The term was coined by University of Chicago researchers, who had analyzed the effect of four days of poor sleep, this something happen during a busy week.
A person if happened to work one late night leads to two late nights at home, and one is in sleep debt.
And here we are talking of four nights, so how bad it could be? After all, coffee does wonders. But the hormones that control our fat cells don’t feel the same way.
The University of Chicago researchers found that insulin sensitivity dropped by more than 30 percent, within just four days of sleep deprivation, our body’s ability to properly use insulin becomes completely disrupted.
When our insulin is functioning well, fat cells remove fatty acids and lipids from our blood stream and prevent the storage of fat into the body. When one becomes more insulin resistant, fats (lipids) circulate in our blood and pump out more insulin. Ultimately this excess insulin ends up in storing fat at all the wrong places, such as tissues like our liver. And this is exactly how one becomes fat and suffers from diseases like diabetes.
Lack of Rest Leads to Food Craving
Many people think that hunger is connected to willpower and one can control the call of stomach, but it is not so, hunger is controlled by two hormones, leptin and ghrelin.
Leptin is a hormone that is produced in our fat cells. The less leptin one produce, the more our stomach feels empty. The more ghrelin one produces, the more one stimulate hunger and also reduces the amount of calories one burns in body metabolism and eventually leads to fat storage. Thus, it is very clear that one needs to control leptin and ghrelin to productively lose weight, but sleep deprivation makes it nearly impossible. One of the researches published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinoloy and Metabolism found that sleeping less than six hours triggers the area of our brain which increases our need for food craving at the same time also reduces leptin and enhances ghrelin.
Sleep Loss Creates Internal Battle
The scientists revealed exactly how sleep loss creates an internal battle that makes it nearly impossible to lose weight. When one doesn’t sleep enough, our cortisol levels rises. This is a stress hormone which is frequently associated with fat gain. Cortisol also activates reward centers in our brain that make us want food. At the same time, the loss of sleep causes our body to produce more ghrelin. A combination of high ghrelin and cortisol shut down those areas of our brain which provides satisfaction after a meal, meaning one feels hungry the entire time-even if had a big meal.
Unhealthy Food
Lack of sleep also gives temptation of eating unhealthy foods. A study published in Nature Communications found that just one night of sleep deprivation was enough to damage activity in our frontal lobe, which controls complex decision-making.
By transforming some of our lifestyle changes one can experience good sleep
Weight Loss 1 Say no to Caffeine
If one makes a slight change in the life style by not taking coffee, tea and soda, or chocolates, four to six hours before bedtime then one can get good sleep. We know that it is the caffeine in our coffee that wakes us up in the morning, but are not aware that caffeine is found in other foods too. Instead, one can have a warm, milky drink or herbal tea.
Weight Loss 2 Avoid Nicotine
Similar to caffeine, nicotine, found in tobacco, also has stimulating effects. Smoking should be avoided always for optimal health, however if one does smoking please, at least avoid it 45 minutes before bedtime to induce good sleep.
Weight Loss 3 Avoid spicy, acidic and fatty foods
Spicy, acidic or fatty foods contribute to heartburn. When one go to sleep, then heartburn sensation is felt by one, this is due to the acid from the stomach leaks into the esophagus causing an uncomfortable feeling in the chest, and this hinders sleep.
Weight Loss 4 Practice taking night food before 8.00 pm
If one gets hungry before bed, avoid having a heavy meal. Instead choose very light snack, like a small glass of milk and a snack which is low in sugar and fat.
Weight Loss 5 Exercises for good sleep
Doing daytime exercise, even late in the afternoon, one finds a great way to boost energy levels for the rest of the day and helps one to get a good sleep in the night. Exercise also relieves stress, which can kick away insomnia. If one do the moderate exercises on a regular basis, such as swimming or walking, this also help one relieve some of the tension built up during the entire busy day. But make sure one is not doing vigorous exercises, like running or the gym, too close to bedtime, as it may keep one awake.
Sleep pattern also depends on one’s eating and drinking habits. The place where one sleeps also matters a lot.
Weight Loss 6 Keep a proper schedule of sleep
A proper sleep time should be managed, at least maintain 6 to 8 hours of sleep every day. Keeping the same timings everyday will Programme one’s body to sleep better. Choose time according to one’s comfort zone.
Weight Loss 7 Good Sleeping Environment
One’s bedroom should be a peaceful place for rest and sleep. It should contain all the optimum physical factors like Temperature, lighting and noise. These factors should be highly controlled so that one’s bedroom environment helps to fall asleep.
If one has a pet, try moving it somewhere else if it often disturbs in the night.
Make sure the bed is comfortable
One should have a comfortable mattress should not be too soft or too hard, or a bed which is neither too small nor too old.
Weight Loss 8 Write Down Worries
If one tends to lie in bed thinking about everything one has to do the next day, write down in the notebook instead of remembering it repeatedly, this would help one to remove their worries when one is in bed and trying to sleep.
Weight Loss 9 Get up if not getting sleep
If one is not getting sleep, then do not lie idle, worrying about things. Get up and do something of your own interest and also which relaxes self, until feels sleepy again, then go back to bed.
If still the matter is serious and it’s affecting your daily life then consult a doctor who could give you right suggestions.
Weight Loss 10 Yoga
Yoga always defuses stress by keeping one present in that state (i.e., concentrating on the pose you’re in), stretching stressed muscles, and this induces a feeling of calm when practiced regularly. Since the effects of a yoga practice are collective not instant, so, one needs to practice regularly, at least 3 times a week, to bring in the benefits.
Weight Loss 11 Meditation
The benefits of regular meditation can’t be neglected. Studies have shown that, it actually causes changes in the brain that will make one more relaxed and better to handle the stress in general. One doesn’t even have to be too strict about it; as little as 5-10 minutes a day with eyes closed and just focusing on the normal breathing or thinking about any of the favorite thing which is most liked, then this would be enough to create positive changes within self.
If one has tried everything and are still having trouble sleeping, then one should definitely talk to medical professional and sort out the problem.
