“Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.”
~JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002
Sleep is one of the most undervalued “medicines” for good health, and in today’s society, many people have a sleep debt. Getting enough sleep promotes alertness, productivity and general good health.
What many do not know is that getting enough sleep can actually help you shed pounds.
Make friends with appetite regulating hormones
Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that regulate appetite. Ghrelin signals to the brain when you’re hungry and it’s time to eat, while leptin signals when you are full and it’s time to stop. 1
Chronic lack of sleep increases ghrelin and decreases leptin, turning your hunger/satiety indicator inside out. So you get signals to eat (ghrelin) when you aren’t truly hungry anymore, and get signals to stop (leptin) too late. 1
One study demonstrates even two days of restricted sleep resulted in a 28% ghrelin increase and an 18% leptin decrease in a sampling of healthy young men.1
In addition to these two hormones, sleep stimulates the release of growth hormone, which isn’t only important for developing children. Growth hormone:
- strengthens bones
- creates new muscle cells
- stimulate the immune system
- promotes lipolysis (breakdown of fat), which helps you lose fat2
Another study linked sleep and weight gain to hypocretin/orexcin cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain. These cells are easily excited and sensitive to stress. If they are over stimulated they may promote arousal, which can lead to sleeplessness, in turn causing overeating. 3 A Yale University study also shows eleveated hypocretin levels induce arousal, increased food intake and adiposity (fat content). 4 So it’s important not just to get enough sleep, but also to avoid stress.
Get the beauty sleep you deserve
It’s not called “beauty sleep” for nothing. Getting enough sleep will make your body, mind and spirit stronger. Since the amount of sleep is subjective per person, it’s important to listen to your own body. Start by listening to it tonight 🙂
1 University of Chicago study, December 7, 2004 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine
2 – The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 85, No. 2 799-803
– Obesity Research 4: 471-478 (1996)
3 Yale School of Medicine study, April 2005 issue of Cell Metabolism
4 Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
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