Are sleep and dieting related?

If you had to choose one favourite thing your body has to do in order to stay alive, many would say either sleeping or eating. That is because the majority of us get enjoyment out of our food whilst many of us also love a good relaxing session and being taken to another world with our dreams. Imagine if sleeping and dieting were related and sleeping could in actual fact help you lose weight.

Extensive medical evidence has suggested that there are links between sleep and weight. Although it may sound unbelievable, researchers have discovered that the amount of sleep we as human beings get can have a positive affect on our appetites. Of course there are a few variables with this, one of which being the quality of your sleep.

Although it may be hard to believe, sleep and sleep disruption can do extraordinary things to our bodies, which can include having an influence on our weight. This comes from David Rapoport, MD, associate professor and director of the Sleep Medicine Program at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City.

Doctors in the past have spoken about how hormones can affect our sleep but never really unleashed the fact that sleep can have a positive affect on our weight loss. Research has now proven that hormones leptin and ghrelin can influence our appetite. Studies also show that the amount our body’s produce of these two hormones can be influenced by how well we sleep.

Leptin is a type of hormone that crushes our appetites and let's our brain know once we have stored enough fat in our body. Unfortunately when we put on those dreaded lbs., this is a sign that the leptin in our bodies is not working to its full potential. Our minds begin to fight the signals that the leptin sends and as a result we may eat more than our bodies need, which causes us to put on weight. There are ways to increase the levels of this hormone, which include eating more anti-inflammatory foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, cold-water fish, nuts, beans and seeds.

Ghrelin on the other hand is a hormone that helps to increase your appetite. Whilst getting to work is also decreases your “fullness levels” and increases the amount of fat you store. It also fuels your brain to think that it wants more unhealthy foods, which might include sugary and fatty foods. When we as humans have high levels of ghrelin, it becomes very hard for us to lose weight or to maintain a desired weight. To help you lose weight you ideally want to suppress your ghrelin levels. You can do this by eating natural, wholesome foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish, chicken, eggs, turkey and lamb.

As we touched on before, sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain. When we are deprived of sleep our leptin levels become low which means after we eat we do not feel satisfied and as a result may eat more. Lack of sleep can also cause an increase in ghrelin levels, appetite and hunger, which put simply means we want to eat more food. – A dieter’s worst nightmare! Although guaranteeing a good nights sleep is sometimes easier said than done, 5-HTP is a supplement that can help promote sleep and decrease sugar cravings, preventing you gaining those extra lbs.