Sleep deprivation causes changes in metabolism and hormone functioning, which can affect how the body burns and stores fat.
There is also a particular link between sleep loss and obesity because a lack of sleep lowers leptin, an important hormone that tells the body when it has eaten enough food, and increases ghrelin, the opposite hormone that tells the body to eat more food.
People who are well rested are more likely to engage in physical activity or exercise and have a more positive attitude.
Also, food cravings increase as the body seeks an immediate source of energy to compensate for the sleep deprivation.
We often turn to food when we are feeling unwell or are tired. Sleep restores and re-builds the body – lead to increase metabolism
Poor sleep can result in:
- impaired concentration and memory
- irritability
- decreased ability to accomplish daily tasks
- depression and
- accidents
The way you sleep is a habit and like all habits your sleeping habits can be changed. Bad habits can be hard to break but, with persistence, it is possible to return to an unbroken night of sleep.
Circadian Rhythm – leads to rises in the level of the sleep facilitating the hormone melatonin in the late afternoon and one to two hours before a person’s habitual bedtime, enabling them to get to sleep
While some people may function properly without the average 8 hours of sleep a night, the same people may find that their body needs to catch up on sleep on weekends, or on trains or planes. Other early signs are micro-sleeps and drowsiness when driving or lack of concentration. People should be concerned about the long term consequences of sleep loss on their health.
The combination of an unhealthy lifestyle of bad eating habits, too little exercise and sleep loss leads to a dangerous increase in risk of diseases including heart disease.