Unlocking Weight Loss: The Crucial Role of Sleep in Managing Health and Appetite

Can the secret to shedding those extra pounds be as simple as getting more sleep? In this eye-opening episode, we uncover the intrinsic connection between sleep and weight management. Discover how the balance—or imbalance—of hormones like ghrelin and leptin can make or break your appetite control. We discuss how inadequate sleep disrupts these hormones, paving the way for increased hunger, binge eating, and ultimately weight gain. 

But that's not all. We delve into how sleep deprivation spikes your cortisol levels, leading to stress-induced cravings for high-calorie foods. Learn why poor sleep compromises your metabolism, making it nearly impossible to regulate blood sugar and insulin—a key factor in preventing type 2 diabetes. We also explore the cognitive fallout from lack of sleep, touching on how it impairs your decision-making, fueling impulsive eating habits. This episode offers a comprehensive guide on why prioritizing sleep is crucial for anyone serious about managing their weight and overall health.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

So what is the importance of sleep and how does it affect your weight and obesity within your body? So sleep is so crucial to weight management for so many reasons. It impacts your overall health, your wellbeing, and it really cannot be overstated, or really underestimated, shall I say, because a few reasons why sleep is so important. It has to do with regulation of your appetite, your hormones. It plays a significant role in regulating the hormones controlling your appetite the ghrelin and the leptin hormones. The ghrelin, which is referred to the hunger which may increase your appetite, and the leptin has to do with the satay, the hormone that is, let you know if you're full Now. Inadequate sleep can disrupt us and it causes a disbalance within the hormones, leading to increased hunger, overeating. In addition, it will affect your stress and cortisol levels. Sleep deprivation can lead to increased stress and elevated cortisol levels. High cortisol levels can trigger cravings and high calories comfort eating, especially those rich in sugar and high fat. This really leads to high, unhealthy eating habits and, obviously, increased weight gain, which then will not be managed. Weight, your energy, that it's expended throughout the day is factored, because when you don't have a good night's sleep, you're not maintaining a healthy metabolism, you're not rested, you're not efficiently burning calories through your metabolic rate at nighttime. Your basal metabolic rate has changed. No thermogenesis is done properly within the body is done properly within the body. Your sleep is slowed down, which then in turn may cause gain weight. Your metabolism kind of stays still. You may also additionally, emotionally eat the next day or previous to your night because your mood swings and you're irritable. When you start emotionally eating, then that follows with negative emotions and then you may make some poor um choices with foods which then can cause waking. In addition, if you have poor sleep from the night before your next day may cause your sleep because the recovery to your muscles repair and the sleep defy that you are, you feel more fatigued the next day and you feel less motivated to get into even a physical activity, less motivated to have regular morning exercise or evening exercises, just exercise in general, because that is a critical part to weight management. You still need to move your body. It doesn't have to be excessive, but you still need to move and help with the cardiometabolic and you know your heart, lungs and moving the circulation without to help with management of your weight.

Speaker 1: 3:16

In addition, sleep is a factor when it helps with blood sugar regulation. People don't even realize it, but you know, when you regulate your sleep it's a big factors because those individuals that you know have diabetes or pre-diabetic, they actually have a lot of sleep issues and that sleep is so necessary for everyone in general to help with the blood sugar levels and because then it may cause actual insulin resistance or increased insulin within the body and make it harder for you to regulate the sugar. In turn, what happens is then you gain weight or you may end up with a type two diabetes because you are not able to regulate. And these type two diabetics they'll wake up at like that, three o'clock, four o'clock, uh, pedromal um time, and they'll notice that they may even want they may be hungry, or they want a late night snack, um. So then here they are wanting to eat more and higher calories and usually it's low nutrient and which then contributes to weight gain. Time for digestion and process. So it's quite key that prior to sleep you are to rest and digest and repair. So it's best to stop eating about three hours before bed to help with your metabolism, your digestive system, because when you start having irregularities or poor digestion, then again it will cause overall healthy issues.

Speaker 1: 4:38

Now, hormonal changes are due to chronic sleep deprivation and imbalance of your hormones, and that will then, in turn, mess with your hormones of insulin and growth hormones, which then play a major role in your metabolism and your body composition. When you have lack of sleep, you have less cognitive function. What that means is you're impaired in decision-making. This can lead to poor food choices, impulsive eating and, of course, again contributes to weight gain. Not just weight gain, but overall choices, poor choices in what you eat. So all of these are factors in helping with weight management, because when you can regulate your hormones, you can reduce your stress. You help support your energy expenditure. By exercise, you manage the balance of your emotional well-being. This will help contribute to how you feel and it'll help get you to your optimal weight. That is good for you.

Speaker 1: 5:34

Now, how do we do this? We aim to have consistent sleep schedule. So I tell people that you know three hours before sleep, try not to eat too much food, have a quality sleep environment, try to get between seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night. This is a big factor. Now, how do you get into the best restful sleep? Now? I have many options with that and I tell people you know, the best way to do that is, you know, don't watch some TV too late, don't have have a dark room, try to sleep just in that room as much as possible and have it more tranquil. You know your bed should be sleeping, not for doing excess watching TV. And if you have any further questions, I can reach out to me with further answers and I'd be glad to answer them for you.