The conspiracy : sleep deprivation,stress and fatness

This is a story between three friends with different characters. Their name are Ah Sleep, Ah Stress and Ah Fat. Kiddin! I'm definitely having lack of sleep but can't cover back the loss and here I am with une tasse de café; infront of the monitor screen, telling you... never follow this bad habit. Hehe... Don't consume caffeine too much, not at night, if you insist make it a cup per day (preferably morning). Am I addicted? Oh non!

I've been reading few articles here and there about sleep deprivation and how important it is to get enough sleep especially for those under 40. I read before somewhere in Reader's Digest about 'sleep less, gain weight'. Let's see what I've found.

Why sleep is important? Few reasons out of many that lack of sleep caused

• Affect ability to do a good job at work
• Poor performance in school
• Sleep-deprived people don't realize how impaired they are
• Poor sleep can make you fat
• Less sleep = more depression and suicidal thoughts in teens
• Sleep deprivation might lead to higher blood pressure
• Lack of sleep can't be repaired in just one night

Some interesting findings and researches

• People who slept 4 hours or less per night are 73% more likely to be obese (at risk)
• Those who got only 5 hours of sleep are at 50% more likely to be obese than those getting full night's rest
• Those who got 6 hours of sleep were 23% more likely to be substantially overweight

Supposed when you sleep less, you burn more calories (more activities or movement or energy used?). But not, it is something that your body reacted when you deprive it of sleep. When you stay awake longer, you are more likely to snack more. It is not by that simple saying that sleep deprivation causes fatness or more eating, but scientific research showed evidence that there's a link between sleep and various neural pathways that regulate food intake.

There's a study concluded that lack of sleep can cause dangerous fat build up around your internal organs. This is worse for people under 40 that get less than 5 hours of sleep each night than it is for people above that age. Increase of visceral fat (belly fat) also observed in people that got over 8 hours of sleep per night. For those above 40, it is said that there's no correlation between sleep duration and belly fat. 

Not getting enough quality sleep, causes rise in hormones that increase appetite, while also decreasing hormone levels that make you feel full. These two hormones - ghrelin and leptin. Previous findings had shown that sleep deprivation was linked to decrease level of hormone leptin, which regulates appetite and weight and tells the brain how much energy is available in the body. Levels of the hormone grehlin, which makes people want to eat, have also been seen to increase in people who are sleep-deprived.  Being stressed, also can affect sleep patterns and is known to affect hormone levels as well. Chronic stress affect between cortisol production (stress hormone), insulin resistance and leptin resistance; all of which triggers weight gain and many health problems.

Different people give different body response to stress (cortisol production). People who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. Another tip to unlock leptin hormone, avoid diet and junk foods but increase natural foods with natural spices and herbs.

Hope this info about getting enough sleep gives you some idea about the interaction between sleep and weight gain. So, go get your sleep now! I think hormone ghrelin just 'called' me. Hehe.

References :

Marik, P.E. 2000. Leptin, Obesity, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Chest vol. 118 no.3 569-571

BBC. 2004. Too Little Sleep May Make You Fat. BBC News, Health.

Elizabeth Scott, M.S. 2008. Cortisol and Stress : How to Stay Healthy. About.com Guide

Karen, M. 2009. On Sleep: Why You Need it So Badly, and How You Can Get Some! Positscience.com

BellyFatLoser. 2010. Does Lack of Sleep Make You Fat? Bellyfatloser.com