More sleep causes weight loss

Of course, there is the chicken-and-egg question of whether oversleeping causes these type of harmful conditions, or whether certain illnesses cause oversleeping. Frankly, some studies indicate getting too much sleep may trigger certain problems, while other studies show oversleeping to be byproduct of co-occurring diseases or illness. This same research also notes that more healthy people may simply need less rest while unhealthy people tend to need more sleep. The field of sleep science is still looking into the cause and effect relationship between oversleeping and health, but until then, there are definitely several research-proven habits and steps that can promote better quality sleep and a healthy sleep duration - whether you're an undersleeper or an oversleeper.

Does Sleeping Longer or Shorter Impact Your Weight?

These "healthy sleep hygiene" habits include:. If you're taking any medication or supplement that causes excessive excitability or drowsiness, from caffeine to anti-histamines, consider stopping the medication or supplement or changing the timing of it. Go out of your way to get exposure to large amounts of natural light in the morning and limit exposure to artificial light in the evening.

Keep any alarm clocks out of arm's reach and consider getting a dawn sunlight emitting alarm clock, which can wake you with natural light rather than a blaring alarm. Establish a sleep schedule and stick to it, even on the weekends. Oversleeping on Saturday and Sunday can inhibit your ability to re-establish a normal sleep cycle on the weekdays.

Shoot for approximately seven to nine hours of sleep a night and avoid excessive naps, especially in the later afternoon or early evening, as these naps may make it more difficult to fall asleep at night and result in oversleeping. The same goes for excessive caffeine and blue light exposure close to bedtime.

Weight Loss and Sleep

These are just a few simple suggestions on how to limit under-sleeping or oversleeping so that you lack of or excess Zzz's don't expand your waistline or keep you from losing fat. For even more advanced information on sleep and sleep cycles and sleep hacking, check out my article on " How Sleep Cycles Work ". Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.

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Metabolism, appetite, and sleep

Is too little sleep a cause of weight gain? However, these connections have not been subject to rigorous examination.


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On the other hand, there have been studies that have looked into the potential physical side effects of oversleeping on weight and weight — related conditions. Even after adjusting for energy expenditure and physical activity levels among other covariates , these relationships remained significant. A U-shaped relationship between hours of sleep and type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and weight is observed, but the metabolic mechanisms affected by long sleep duration are less clear than with sleep restriction and remain somewhat speculative.

However, the researchers had no plausible explanation for a cause-and-effect relationship. Obese subjects are vulnerable for sleep-related breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea. They found associations between weight loss and reduction of symptom frequency. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder which causes an individual to have short pauses in breathing or very shallow breaths while sleeping. These pauses in breathing can often cause the individual to wake up, snore, choke, or just generally disrupt their sleep.

Sleep apnea is very difficult to diagnose because doctors can't exactly tell if a person has sleep apnea in a regular routine visit. Additionally the patient himself may not even realize he has sleep apnea because it occurs during sleep, so a partner or roommate is usually the first to notice symptoms. There are two types of sleep apnea, obstructive and central.

The Connection Between Sleep and Weight

Obstructive sleep apnea is more common among overweight patients, and occurs when the airway is fully or partially blocked at times during sleep. Any air that does sneak by the blocked passage can cause loud snoring. The second type of sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, is much more rare and has to do with the part of the brain that regulates breathing. The signal from the brain to the lungs is disrupted, resulting in pauses in breathing. Treating obstructive sleep apnea is much easier than central sleep apnea, and the treatment plan may include things such as lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, surgery, and breathing devices [46].

Since overweight is one of the most important risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea, weight loss interventions combined with active lifestyle counseling showed to be beneficial. This intervention seemed to be beneficial for patients with mild obrustrive sleep apnea. Baseline levels of insulin do not signal muscle and fat cells to absorb glucose.

Sleep and weight - Wikipedia

When glucose levels are elevated, the pancreas responds by releasing insulin. Blood sugar will then rapidly drop. This can progress to type 2 diabetes. Sleep loss can affect the basic metabolic functions of storing carbohydrates and regulating hormones. Reduction of sleep from eight hours to four hours produces changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function. Researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center followed 11 healthy young men for 16 consecutive nights.

Better Sleep for Weight Loss Success

Sleep deprivation also alters the productions of hormones , lowering the secretion of thyroid stimulating hormone and increasing blood levels of cortisol. They needed more insulin to get rid of the same amount of glucose. If the body does not release more insulin to compensate, the blood-glucose levels will increase.

This resembles impaired glucose tolerance, which can result in type 2 diabetes.


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  • As obesity has become an issue of nationwide focus, all forms of media have begun to explore and report on the link between sleep and weight. However, although it is often presented like this in the media, sleep is not a universal solution to obesity, direct evidence for losing weight because of sleeping more does not exist.

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    November Obesity Reviews. Sleep Medicine. Pediatric Obesity. American Journal of Epidemiology. The Journal of Neuroscience. The British Journal of Psychiatry. Southern Medical Journal. BBC News.