Lose Weight By Using Sleep

By Adam Sanders

A little over half of America's population, 65% to be specific, is obese for many years now. Food chains, oily and fatty foods, jobs that don't require a lot of movements and even remote controls are the major factors of the so-called "obesity epidemic." Stanford University and other research labs have just come up with a study that lack of sleep could be the one of the causes of weight gain.

Columbia University conducted a survey and picked out 6, 115 people to analyze their sleep habit and weight patterns. The outcome of their research is that those who got two to four hour sleep a night were 73% more prone to obesity than those who got seven to nine hours. Another unexpected result was that those who got 10 or more hours sleep were 11% less probable to be over fat.

It appears in the study that falling short of an eight-hour sleep adds up the level of the ghrelin "hungry" hormones and lowers the "full" hormones, leptin. It's not that you can't help having a very full breakfast right away. You'll have a persistent feeling that you need to eat and when you do, you'll never get filled. Just the easiest way to obesity.

The idea that poor sleep habits are to blame for weight gain goes a long way in explaining why new mothers can't lose their "baby weight," why college freshmen are famous for gaining the "freshman ten," and why shift workers have higher obesity rates. Many people suffer from chronic worry and stress that interferes with sleep, and as we get older most of us develop aches and pains that can cause wakefulness and interrupt sleep.

The National Sleep Foundation estimates that 65% of Americans get to a little level the perfect eight hours of sleep per night. As a matter of fact, the modal sleep on the week is merely 6.9 hours a night. Most people are capable to make a few further hours on the weekends, but ghrelin and leptin don't appear to believe in playing catch-up. In a sleep-appetite report at the University of Chicago, those who slept four hours not only displayed expanded quantities of hunger-stimulating ghrelin (think "gremlin"), they also stated that they starved high-carb foods like cake, ice cream, pasta, bread and candy.

Obviously, getting more sleep is easier for most people than eating a low-calorie diet or following a strict exercise program. Going to bed a little earlier-instead of snacking your way through another TV show-could be the easiest component of successful weight loss. If nothing else, you'll feel more energetic in the morning, which in itself can put that extra spring in your step than can burn a few more calories. - 29951

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