If you don’t sleep well, you may become a big eater.
I once had a patient who often worked overtime until very late due to high work pressure. Even after work, she found it difficult to relax. She often scrolled through her mobile phone until one or two in the morning before trying to sleep, but she couldn't sleep well. She still felt like she hadn't slept enough when she woke up the next day. What bothered her even more was that it became increasingly difficult to restrain herself from sweets and fried foods, and she continued to gain weight, so she came to see me for treatment.
I believe her troubles are also shared by many people: busy working all day and sleeping little, logically she should lose weight, but why does she gain weight instead of losing weight? In fact, most people, even some doctors, cannot lose weight without these two things they do while awake. That is to say, "eat less" and "move more", which means reducing caloric intake and increasing caloric expenditure. But few people know that in fact, "sleep", an ordinary thing, has a lot to do with body weight!
Sleep less and have a strong appetite
How could it affect my weight if I don't move while sleeping? Very simply, it affects various endocrine systems in the body. The first is the problem of not getting enough sleep. Research from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States shows that people who sleep less than 5 hours a night prefer foods high in calories, fat and sugar. People who don't get enough sleep gain one kilogram more weight in just five days than those who get enough sleep. People who sleep less than 6 hours a night have a nearly 30% chance of becoming obese in the future compared with people who sleep 7 to 9 hours a night. This result is actually not difficult to understand, because lack of sleep is a kind of physiological stress for the body. In order to cope with the stress, the body will enter a state of preparation, and the adrenal cortisol will rise, increasing the glucose content in the blood. If these sugars are not consumed in a short period of time, the body will convert the excess energy into "war reserve food" and store it as fat. In addition, when you don’t get enough sleep, ghrelin secretion increases, leptin secretion decreases, and your appetite increases. It is difficult to control your diet by willpower alone!
Not sleeping well, gaining weight
Furthermore, not sleeping well has a great impact. According to research from Harvard Medical School in the United States: Abnormal sleep can lead to multiple endocrine disorders, which in turn can lead to a constant loss of energy balance in the body. For example, people with sleep apnea will over-secret ghrelin (Ghrelin), increase their hunger, and make it difficult to control their food intake. At the same time, the brain will be less sensitive to leptin (Leptin). Leptin is a hormone that makes people feel "full". It can also reduce lipid synthesis and reduce triglycerides. Without it, you will feel hungry all the time, and it will be easier to synthesize fat and accumulate it on the body. Therefore, people who sleep for a long period of time may have an increased appetite and eat more. In addition, the secretion of glucocorticoids will increase. They especially want to eat high-fat and high-sugar foods, such as fried chicken, French fries, donuts, milk tea, ice cream, etc., which indirectly leads to abdominal obesity.
What is frustrating is that most obese patients are resistant to the physiological effects of leptin due to obesity. They have a strong appetite and do not feel full no matter how much they eat. They are more likely to synthesize fat. Not only do their weight soar, but they also aggravate the symptoms of sleep apnea. Just the imbalance of these two hormones is so serious, which shows the importance of sleep quality to weight control!
