SLEEP DEPRIVATION MAY EQUAL WEIGHT GAIN

How many hours do you sleep per night on the average?

Today, lots of people are sleep deprived. Here in Lagos, Nigeria, we have people who are out of their houses as early as 4.30am trying to beat early morning traffic and don't get back in until about 10.30pm and eventually get to sleep by 12pm only to be up by 4am the next day.

On the average, we need about 8 hours of quality sleep per night. When we are sleep deprived and running on low energy, we tend to make poor food choices, and rely on foods with higher calories. According to Micheal Breus PhD, author of Beauty Sleep, your metabolism will not function properly if you are sleep deprived.

HOW DOES SLEEP DEPRIVATION AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO LOSE WEIGHT?

"This has a lot to do with our nightly hormones", explains Breus. The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is the 'go' hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have less leptin. Invariably, more ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE SLEEP DEPRIVATION?

• Avoid eating, reading and watching TV in bed. 
• Turn off the lights in your room.
• Reduce caffeine intake and avoid caffeinated drinks at least 6 hours before bedtime. 
• Eat healthy. 
• Do not eat heavy meals within 4-5 hours before bedtime. 
• Avoid long- term use of over-the counter sleeping pills. 
• Reduce stress as much as possible.
• Use relaxation techniques, laugh more often.
• Exercise, but not more than 4 hours before bedtime. 

References:
Robin Widmar WedMD .