subject: Weight and Sleep: Links and Risks [print this page] Weight and Sleep: Links and Risks Weight and Sleep: Links and Risks
Some people may take it for granted but having the right amount of sleep is essential in staying fit and healthy.
Sleeping is a natural body function that is as important as eating. Have too much or too little and you will surely have a hard time staying fit. And to weight watchers, one should know that there are connections between lack of sleep and obesity.
The link between obesity and sleeplessness is a vicious cycle: Lack of sleep stimulates the release of hormones, like ghrelin, that promotes appetite and hunger that increases a person's chance to get fat. But being overweight will also cause problems in sleeping due to clogged airways that constrains breathing, preventing the body from staying healthy by not getting absolute rest.
Studies about lack of sleep provide insight on how serious even a few hours of deficit will do to people. According to the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health, sleeping for just six hours a night raises a person's risk of developing obesity by 23 percent. In addition, sleeping no more than four hours per night will raise the risk up to 73 percent.
The ill effect due to lack of sleep to staying healthy is just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to increased chances of obesity, sleeping fewer than six hours per night for two weeks can greatly impair memory, reaction time and cognition, according to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania of Medicine in Philadelphia. Moreover, fewer than five hours of sleep will give a 50 percent rise on chances of developing high blood pressure due to the increase in levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, that constrain the heart and can lead to weakening of the immune system, heart disease and stroke.
It is funny that a simple, pleasurable and natural act, when done properly, can help us in staying fit and even help prevent us from gaining weight. Maybe some people think that sleeping is a waste of time when there are emails to be sent or reports to be typed and that life is to short to waste for a few hours of rest. But what many do not realize is that lack of sleep will compromise their health and eventually make life shorter.
Do not put your health and life at risk. For the sake of staying healthy: Give it a rest!
