The importance of sleep
Most of us associate diet and exercise with weight, but did you know that sleep plays an important role in supporting a healthy weight? If you were looking for an excuse to get more sleep, keep reading!
If you haven’t personally experienced struggles with weight gain, chances are someone close to you has. Certainly, weight gain is an extremely prevalent health concern, and is typically linked with individual lifestyle choices. Though not always the case, it is fair to say diet and exercise (or lack-thereof) is assigned most of the blame when we see unwelcome increases in weight.
We all know that we should strive to get adequate sleep (most of us will be familiar with the 8-hour recommendation), yet we tend not to think about this as influencing our weight. Despite this gap in popular knowledge, the link between sleep deprivation and weight gain has been demonstrated in scientific literature:
A 2017 study showed that people who slept less than 6 hours per night had a rise in weight gain and negative health consequences.
Below, I will outline some of the key take-out points, and provide some tips for anyone who this resonates with.
The connection between sleep & weight
There are two hormones that come to mind: ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is a hormone also known as the “hunger hormone” which increases appetite. Leptin on the other hand is a hormone that has a role in suppressing appetite and balancing energy levels.
The aforementioned study showed that people who slept less than 6 hours and had a poor-quality sleep lead to an increase in ghrelin (the huger hormone) and a decrease in leptin (the appetite suppressor) the following day.
Think about it, the day you wake up after a bad night’s sleep or just a short sleep do you feel like you are more hungry or craving carbohydrates? Well, this is most likely due to differing levels of ghrelin and leptin.
So how can we optimise your sleep?
1. Reduce blue light exposure
Consider using blue light blockers on devices (mobile phones, televisions, tablets/iPads and so on), and turn off screens at least an hour before bed.
Blue light can reduce the release of melatonin which is required for encouraging a healthy circadian rhythm and a good night’s sleep.
2. Relax your mind
If you are struggling to switch the mind off at night, try writing your thoughts into a journal or using a timer or a phone app such as the Calm app. This will help calm the central nervous system and relax the mind, helping to ease an over-active mind, alleviate anxiety and allow you to drift off more easily.
3. Set a sleep routine
Have a regular bedtime and wake time to encourage your circadian rhythm. A phone alarm/app may help to serve as a reminder, and will also allow you to track exactly how many hours of sleep you are getting.
4. Decrease caffeine intake
Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, and can disrupt your ability to sleep at night. You don’t necessarily need to give up your morning coffee, but you may find that consuming caffeine more mindfully will help sleep come easier. Beverages such as green tea, black tea, matcha, coffee and energy drinks all contain caffeine. Limit your intake and try to drink these in the morning only.
5. Eliminate alcohol (especially in the evening)
Alcohol is known to suppress regular functioning of our sleep cycles, and can cause delayed sleep onset and poorer quality sleep overall. Alcohol consumption also raises our body’s temperature, leading to disrupted sleep throughout the night. Alcohol can also contribute to weight gain outside of sleep-related processes, so eliminating or reducing alcohol intake is a no-brainer for anyone trying to maintain a healthy weight or otherwise improve their health.
Good sleep is one of the universal pillars of our physical health, yet so often overlooked. If sleep is a problem area for you, try to incorporate one or more of the above tips into your day for a week, and let me know if you notice a difference in your sleep quality.
Reference: Deng, H. B., Tam, T., Chung-Ying Zee, B., Yat-Nork Chung, R., Su, X., Jin, L., Chan, T. C., Chang, L. Y., Yeoh, E. K., & Lao, X. Q. (2017). Short sleep duration increases metabolic impact in healthy adults: A population-based cohort study. Sleep, 40(10). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsx130