The Connection Between Sleep Deprivation, Weight Gain, and Heart Disease
A lack of sleep can directly impact your weight and overall health.
Studies have shown a lack of sleep promotes the expression of a gene linked to obesity. Both sleeping too little (less than 5-6 hours per night) and too much (greater than 9-10 hours per night) are associated with weight gain.
Researchers also propose a lack of sleep can lead to a vicious cycle, meaning poor sleep equals weight gain equals conditions that interfere with sleep which equals continued sleep deprivation.
Appetite
Sleep quality and quantity impact the appetite regulation hormone ghrelin. Ghrelin levels decrease after a meal and increase between meals.
Leptin is another hormone that reduces feelings of hunger. Leptin levels increase during the day and peak at night.
Adipose tissue secretes leptin while the stomach secretes ghrelin.
Sleep deprivation has been shown to increase the ratio of ghrelin to leptin leading to increased appetite and specifically increased carbohydrate cravings. Many studies have shown a lack of sleep leads to increased caloric intake throughout the day.
Breathing Disorders
Continue readingMarriage – Is it Making You Fat?
With the Valentine holiday just behind us, here’s an interesting bit of information on love and health.
Monitoring weight gain after marriage and divorce
Did you know Ohio researchers followed 10,071 individuals from 1986 to 2008 to evaluate weight gain during the two year period following marriage and divorce.
A variety of factors that impact weight gain were taken into account, such as pregnancy, education, and socioeconomic status.
Do men or women gain weight after marriage?
The study determined women are more likely to gain weight after their wedding day than men. This may be due to the larger role women play around the home leaving less time to devote to physical activity.
The study found men experience positive health benefits linked to married life and it’s divorce that leads to weight gain.
Interestingly, the study also found those who marry after the age of 30 years-old are more likely to experience weight shifts. . .up.
What do you think?
The Effect of Inflammation on Weight Loss
If you are to successfully lose weight you will likely focus on eating fewer calories and increasing your activity to burn more calories. It’s important that you also address inflammation on your journey to lose weight.
Research on mice has shown a “switch” controlling inflammation in the hypothalamus (region of the brain that regulates energy) becomes “flipped on” in response to high fat diets. It also shows that “overnutrition” (i.e. eating too much) turns on this inflammatory switch.
An increased level of inflammation leads our cells to become resistant to insulin and leptin.
Insulin plays a messenger role in that it tells cells it is time to take in glucose (sugar). If cells become resistant to insulin, they ignore the message that it is time to take in more glucose, glucose is converted to fatty acids, and is stored by our fat cells. If insulin resistance is persistent, eventually the fat cells will no longer respond and increased levels of fatty acids will remain in circulation.
Leptin is a hormone that triggers satiety. This is your body’s way of telling you you’ve had enough to eat. When production of leptin is hindered, we do not feel satisfied and tend to eat more.
As inflammation causes the cells to ignore the messages of insulin and leptin, you are more likely to consume more calories (because you still feel hungry) and potentially store increased levels of fat due to the increased level of circulating fatty acids.
Weight Discrimination – Is your health being affected?
Purdue University researchers conducted a study to evaluate the impact of weight discrimination on health declines for obese individuals. The purpose of the study was to show that extra pounds alone don’t account for all the health problems and overweight or obese individual lives with. It is theorized that individuals with a higher body mass index are more likely to feel discriminated against due to their weight. The more an individual believes they are a victim of weight discrimination the more their health is impacted.
How does your BMI measure up?
Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses. A quick and easy way to evaluate your risk is to check your body mass index (BMI).
To calculate your BMI all you need to know is your height and weight. Let’s calculate your BMI right now.
BMI = weight (lbs.) divided by height (in.) divided by height (in.) x 703
For example, if you weight is 200 pounds and you are 5’10” (70 in.), your BMI equals 29.
200 divided by 70 divided by 70 x 703 = 28.7
BMI Categories:
Fat and Weight Loss – Do you need to eat fat to lose fat?
When it’s time to lose weight, many of us are trained to think “cut back on fat”. In a previous post – What’s the right amount of fat? – I discussed fat soluble vitamins, how much fat you should include in your daily diet, and some healthy fat sources. Now I want to cover one other important contribution fat makes when it comes to losing weight.
One of the beauties of fat is that it helps us to feel full. Fat is often referred to as the “satiety nutrient.” Have you ever eaten a meal that has been non fat or extremely low in fat? If so, then you might know what I mean. That meal typically doesn’t keep you satisfied for very long which leads to eating more food to get satisfaction. This can result in an overall higher calorie intake!
So for your weight loss efforts, it’s important to curb your appetite by including adequate fat sources with your meals and some snacks! Sixty grams of fat per day can add up quickly so you’ll want to make sure you’re making mindful choices.
Being careful you do not restrict your fat intake too low and include healthy fat sources in your diet everyday is just one of many factors that affect weight loss. To drastically increase your success with losing weight and keeping it off you must wade through all the weight loss information available and sort out what works from what doesn’t. Many methods used to lose weight are ineffective and some may even sabotage your weight loss efforts. Sign up for the FREE teleclass The 5 Biggest Dieting Myths Revealed to learn which weight loss strategies really work. Visit https://www.lisanelsonrd.com/newu/call.html to learn more today.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
5 Biggest Dieting Myths Revealed
