18 Sep 4 Ways Sleep Is Important For Weight Loss
If you’re having a hard time losing weight, the amount of sleep you’re getting may be the problem. Just as your diet and exercising, sleeping is an essential aspect of weight loss. According to researchers, there’s a positive correlation between healthy body weight and good sleep.
While there’s some controversy surrounding the exact relationship between the two, there’s no denying that having a good night’s rest offers weight loss benefits. Not convinced yet? Here are four ways sleep is important for weight loss.
1. Sleep Regulates Hunger Hormones
Ghrelin and leptin are hunger hormones that regulate your appetite. Lack of sleep or sleep deprivation alters these hormones, making it harder to resist tempting foods such as ice cream. Additionally, sleep loss causes hunger hormones to fluctuate, causing you to overeat or eat when you’re not hungry.
On the other hand, quality sleep balances your hunger hormones, reducing your affinity to foods that are high in carbs, fats, and calories. So, if you’re always munching on snacks and constantly eating throughout the day, you might want to consider adjusting your sleeping patterns.
2. Sleep Enhances Physical Activity And Workouts
You probably know regular exercise and working out helps you shed excess weight while improving your overall health. However, you can’t work out effectively if you haven’t had a good night’s sleep as you’ll feel sluggish, tired, and unmotivated.
Hence, if you were supposed to work out for 2 hours, you’ll only get one hour in. To improve your athletic performance and enhance your workouts, ensure you’re getting enough sleep. Therfore, you can exercise without facing the risk of injury.
3. Sleep Prevents Insulin Resistance
Insulin is a hormone that moves sugar from your bloodstream into your body to be used as energy. Generally, poor sleep affects the way your body produces and manages insulin. So, when your cells become insulin resistant, more sugar lingers in your bloodstream, causing your body to produce more insulin to compensate.
As a result, the excess insulin increases fat storage and makes you hungrier, resulting in weight gain.
4. Sleep Regulates Brain Chemistry
Brain chemicals play essential roles in sleep, mood, and mental health. Lack of sleep can throw your brain chemicals, increasing the risk of anxiety and depression, making it harder to sleep. That’s why when you’re experiencing negative emotions, you tend to have trouble falling or staying asleep.
Mental health issues, depression, and stress are, in turn, linked to weight gain and increased fat storage as a result of overeating and increased cortisol levels. Therefore, lack of sleep adversely affects all other aspects of your physical and mental health, hindering your weight loss journey.
Bottom Line
Along with exercising and eating right, getting a good night’s sleep is a vital aspect of healthy body weight. Poor sleep not only alters how your body responds to food but also increases your appetite.
Ultimately, the less you sleep, the more weight you gain. Luckily, by establishing healthy sleeping habits, you can lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight.