The Importance Of Beauty Sleep
Nearly everyone either has struggled or will struggle with a weight problem at least once in their lives
. Trying to lose weight can be one of the hardest things that you will ever have to do. There are millions of methods to losing weight, from eliminating sugar, fat, dairy or meat from your diet, to only eating certain foods at certain times. There are nearly as many exercise programs, machines, gadgets and tools being advertised as well.
But, one of the truly important things relating to weight and health is almost completely ignored or unknown. Sleeping too little or badly can scupper your chances of losing weight.
You may well question how sleep and becoming slim, and staying slim, are related. The answer is very simple: your body's metabolism changes when you sleep. During sleep your body recharges itself and checks all your vital functions. If you don't sleep the body can't recharge its batteries and the rhythms will be out of synch. If your metabolism is out of synch it is hard to get it back in its right rhythm.
A simple illustration to show how important sleep is: Your body is a truly intricate mechanism. The food you eat contains "body fuel", calories.
First your body takes what it needs, if there's any "fuel" left it stores this in your fat cells. Metabolism is the word used to describe how your body burns the "fuel" in the food. Everyone has a different rate of metabolism, some burn energy quickly, some slowly.
At night, our body goes into a slower mode, finishing up the end of the day business, before it stokes the fire and shuts down for the night. If you find it difficult to fall asleep, or are sleeping badly, your body can't concentrate on the "house keeping" tasks.
Imagine an office worker: imagine a pile in your "in tray" that you ought to go through before the day is done. If you do not get caught up, things stop working correctly and there are foul ups and slowdowns to contend with.
Another issue that relates - if you suffer from sleeping disorders or lack of sleep you tend to "comfort eat" and not make the best decisions. Remember the last time you felt really tired and "down". Did you take a nap to rejuvenate?
How many of you went for a brisk, refreshing walk? No, you probably went to the vending machine and bought yourself a soda and a candy bar, felt good for twenty minutes and then crashed again. Our bodies are demanding that we get some sleep, but instead of listening to them we just eat something to give it something to do. Remember, once the metabolism is slowed down, it is hard to get it back up.
New research pinpoints sleep and how it affects "appetite" hormones.
Too little sleep increases levels of an hormone called "ghrelin" (boosts appetite) and decreases levels of "leptin" (which suppresses appetite).
The result - sleeping to little or not sleeping well can actually fool your body to put on extra pounds!
An American study found that women that slept at least seven hours per night were on average slimmer than those that slept five hours.
Heard of "Beauty Sleep" ...
Those that slept lightly seemed to be more in the risk zone for becoming overweight than those that slept well.
Surprisingly enough eating habits, diet and sleeping patterns were equally important in predicting the risk of becoming overweight!
It's not only eating healthy and exercising that is important, it is also sleeping well. In order to succede your body needs sufficient sleep, otherwise you won't make it.
To find out how many hours per night you need to sleep is thus extremely important if you want to slim down and to stay slim!
by: Gustaf Eriksson
Home Care In Natural Retirement Communities Has Great Benefits Leucoderma - White Spots Problem Cure Tips How To Give A Massage Learning From The Pros Your Own Hormones Can Keep You Youthful Using Nutrition To Help Boost Fertility How To Increase Semen Count Neo Nutrition Health With Your Weight Loss Diet Vitamins That Promote Hair Growth Why Antioxidants Are So Important For Health And What Foods Have Them Clk Body Kits Go Beyond The Best Information About Womens Health Information About Vitamin E Information About Vitamin D