Sleep Deprivation - Causes of Obesity

It has been found that people who have four hours of sleep or less are prone to weight gain.  A good night’s sleep enables the body to repair itself, to rest and so recover for the next day.  Whilst you are asleep the hormones leptin and ghrelin maintain the balance between appetite and fullness. 

But if your sleep is disturbed or if you only sleep for a few hours then this balance is thrown out of synch.  Levels of ghrelin rise which causes you to feel hungry but leptin levels fall which mean that your feelings of fullness are lower than usual.  So, you feel a lot hungrier and yet when you eat you are still not satisfied so you carry on eating.

If you have ever had a day when due to lack of sleep you have felt hungry all day, and have ate more than usual but are still not satisfied then this is likely to be the reason.  If this happens on a regular basis then the weight will go on.  If left unchecked then this can lead to obesity.

This is often a problem for people who work shifts or other unusual work patterns as their sleep patterns are disturbed.  This can mean an increased food intake which coupled with little activity means weight gain.

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