Sleep Deprivation And Weight Gain

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Sleep Deprivation And Weight Gain

Article Description:

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Did you know that lack of sleep can cause weight gain? Neither

did I. I wish I had found this out a bit sooner, like before I

got fat, or at least before I started my current weight loss

program.

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457 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: Fri Jan 27 03:40:08 EST 2006

Written By: Liz Wiseman

Copyright: 2006

Contact Email: mailto:emwiseman@...

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Sleep Deprivation And Weight Gain

Copyright © 2006 Liz Wiseman

Trim You

http://www.trim-you.com

Did you know that lack of sleep can cause weight gain? Neither

did I. I wish I had found this out a bit sooner, like before I

got fat, or at least before I started my current weight loss

program. In fact I thought it might be slimming to stay up late-

after all you are using more calories when you up and about than

when you are lying slumbering in bed aren't you? But recent

studies indicate that lack of sleep can indeed add to your fat

stores.

So how on earth can sleeplessness cause weight gain? Eve Van

Cauter, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the

University of Chicago School of Medicine, and the lead

investigator on one of the new studies says that sleep

deprivation activates a small part of the hypothalamus, the

region of the brain that also is involved in appetite regulation.

The hormones leptin and ghrelin regulate appetite and work rather

like a seesaw. Leptin at one end and ghrelin at the other. When

leptin is up and ghrelin is down we feel full, and vice versa.

In a long term epidemiological study researchers at the

University of Wisconsin and Stanford University tracked 1,024

people ages 30 to 60. The subjects had sleep and blood tests

every four years and kept a record of their sleeping habits. It

was found that those who regularly slept for 5 hours a night had

higher ghrelin and lower leptin levels and a higher BMI.

Other recent studies show the same connection, including one from

Columbia University in New York. They studied data on over 6000

people to compare sleep patterns and obesity. They found that

those who slept two to four hours a night were 73% more likely to

be obese than those who slept 7 to 9 hours a night. Those who

slept five to seven hours were 50% more likely to be obese, and

those who slept six hours were 23% more likely to be obese. In

contrast those who got 10 or more hours of sleep were 11% less

likely to be obese.

It seems that sleep deprived people feel hungrier (leptin is low)

and because they are awake for longer they have more time to eat.

Not only that but sleep deprived people are stressed and need a

pick me up. Their pick me up of choice is- yes high calorie fatty

or sugary snacks-real comfort foods. To add to all this night

owls are not spending their extra hours on the treadmill. No,

they are sitting around watching TV or reading.

More studies are now being conducted to discover whether an

increase in sleep time would help people to lose weight.

In the meantime I'm off to bed!

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Liz Wiseman is a writer and webmaster of " Trim You " a site

that provides free reviews of weight loss programs, as well

as articles and information about losing weight. You can

find further news about losing weight at

http://www.trim-you.com