Good, restorative, restful sleep is the cornerstone of wellness.
“You can get away with eating bad and skipping a workout for a day or two but not sleeping well just one night causes your body and mind to breakdown in any number of subtle, and not so subtle, ways. Sleeping well, promotes focused mental performance, a stable mood, a strong immune system, a healthy stress response, proper cellular repair and a healthy metabolism.
It’s also when your body does much of its disease-fighting maintenance work – when it ‘takes out the cellular trash,’ makes repairs and restores you for the day ahead. So, when you’re chronically short on restorative sleep, it’s a lot bigger deal than just feeling lousy and cranky in the morning – you’re inviting increased risk for serious health problems.
Another major reason to raise your sleep game? Weight control. Turns out, the lack of good, quality sleep also disrupts your metabolism and hormonal balance, which in turn play a big role in weight gain.
Here’s a snapshot of how seven of the key hormones that regulate metabolism and how poor sleep impacts them:
1) Not enough quality sleep = more fat-triggering cortisol.
Lack of sleep is a stressor. Stress stimulates cortisol production which signals your body to retain fat by disrupting your insulin response, promoting insulin resistance.
2) Not enough quality sleep = carb cravings
Excess cortisol can trigger excess hunger, usually for starches and sweet stuff, in other words, a junkie-level addiction to sweets.
3) Not enough quality sleep = not enough fat-burning glucagon.
Just as too much-insulin cues your body to store fat, glucagon tells your body to burn it. When you don’t get enough good quality sleep, glucagon levels drop, leaving you without enough glucagon on hand to keep burning fat.
4) Not enough quality sleep = less heart-helping adiponectin.
Adiponectin is a hormone that promotes insulin sensitivity and helps your body break down fat. It also decreases inflammation and supports cardiovascular function. Less sleep means you lose those benefits—and gain weight.
5) Not enough quality sleep = less satiety-taming leptin.
Leptin is the hormone that causes you to feel full. When leptin levels are low, that feeling of fullness is slow in coming and that delay results in eating more than your body really needs.
6) Not enough quality sleep = too much ghrelin.
Ghrelin is the hormone that triggers hunger. When your ghrelin levels are high, you feel hungrier than you should, and again, you eat more.
7) Not enough quality sleep = insufficient human growth hormone (HGH).
HGH improves your body’s ability to metabolize fat, so when HGH levels drop, weight tends to rise. This “fountain of youth” hormone is made during the deepest stage of sleep, so it’s not enough just to get sleep—you have to get deep, uninterrupted sleep.”
Ready to raise your sleep game – starting tonight?
1. Take the Sleep Quiz!
This 28-second quiz will help you identify the specific key area (mental, physical or environmental) you must focus on FIRST to fall asleep faster and stay asleep all night long. Start the sleep audit quiz to uncover what’s holding you back from a deep peaceful nights rest tonight… click here
2. Work with me privately
If you’d like to work directly with me to improve your sleep on a personal level, just email info@devinburke.com and put “sleep coaching” in the subject line. Tell me about your sleep and how you want it to improve, and I’ll get you all the details!
3. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
I share additional sleep and health tips on my Facebook Page, Instagram page and Youtube channel. Let’s connect!
Source: https://www.bewell.com/blog/5-ways-bad-sleep-makes-you-fat
