This is a guest post written by Elena Anne, a personal trainer, nutritionist and editor of YourLifeTube. Elena offers the latest Native Remedies Coupons and Live Superfoods Discount Coupons.
Are you trying to lose weight? Do you need a natural way to aid in your weight loss needs? Research has shown that having a good night sleep helps people who try to lose weight. This mechanism is tied with the interplay of hormones during sleep, which are also connected to appetite.
When we sleep, there is regulation of leptin and ghrelin, which are hormones that are also responsible for appetite. When times that we were not able to sleep at night, we usually have increased food intake, which does not seem to satisfy us or make us full. In this line, it becomes difficult to lose weight especially when a good night sleep is always very rare.
Leptin and ghrelin are two important hormones that regulate the feeling of fullness and hunger. Ghrelin stimulates the appetite, and is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. On the other hand, leptin is produced by the fat cells and is the one responsible for feelings of fullness because it signals the brain when you are full.
The connection of Sleep to Appetite
When you don’t get enough sleep, the leptin levels are decreased. Due to this, you seem not to get satisfied in your food intake, which makes you eat more just to satisfy your hunger. In contrast, lack of sleep increases your ghrelin levels, which stimulates your appetite more. An increased in appetite and lack of satisfaction makes food intake even more. The interplay of lack of sleep, leptin and ghrelin may play an important role in weight gain.
The Role of Sleep in Weight Loss
Because of the fact that poor sleep may affect the two hormones responsible for appetite and safety, it becomes clear how a good night time sleep may aid in weight loss. Adequate sleep at night may actually normalize your leptin and ghrelin levels, which will help you stabilize your appetite as well.
According to studies, people who sleep better at night have reduced risk for obesity than those who sleep less than 6 hours a night. Obese individuals also were observed to have lesser hours of sleep at night. This may be connected to the occurrence of sleep apnea, which reduces the amount of sleep a person has. This shows that not only the quantity of sleep is important, but also the quality of sleep. Having at least 8 hours uninterrupted sleep at night may help people regulate their body weight.
Recommendations for Better Sleep at Night and Losing More Weight
It is easy to say to have a good night sleep, but some people may just have difficulty falling asleep. In this regard, the following are some of the recommendations to have better sleep at night and lose more weight:
- Do weight lifting during the day. This allows your body to assume a full rest in the evening.
- Turn down the heater. When the room is not that warm, your body spends more calories to give you warmth during the night.
- Do not eat carbs few hours before going to sleep. When there is readily available carbs in your body, you just burn them to produce energy while you sleep so you won’t burn the stored calories in your body.
- Take green tea few hours before going to sleep. Green tea does not contain much caffeine to keep you awake, but it will allow your body to burn more calories at night. You can find a great selection of fine green teas in Native Remedies and Live Superfoods online health food stores.
- Drink low-fat milk at bedtime. You may also drink warm milk to increase your serotonin levels at night, which will help you fall asleep and maintain a sound one. For those of you who can't drink milk due to sensitivity to gluten, you can find gluten-free milk in all the major super markets.
A good night sleep enhances the general well-being of people. It does not only give you a way to rest from a day’s work, but also helps you maintain an ideal body weight.