A Good Night’s Sleep Can Help Your Health!

October 30, 2019Greater Boston GINewsIdeal Protein Weight Loss ProgramNutritional Advice

It is common knowledge that eating right and exercising are important to maintaining healthy body weight. But over the past few years, scientists and doctors have been conducting important research that has revealed a strong connection between inadequate sleep and being overweight. That’s right—when you don’t get enough sleep, it affects your weight. Lack of sleep can make your body hungrier the next day. Over time this cycle of inadequate sleep and hunger can wreak havoc on the body. Sleep challenges may also increase blood pressure, run the risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.

One explanation for this is that insufficient sleep is known to cause changes in hormones like ghrelin (which increases appetite) and leptin (which tells us we’re full). When you’re tired and lacking sleep, the levels of leptin decrease so you’re more likely to overeat. This is a natural bodily response to help maintain your level of energy, but one that you don’t want if you’re trying to lose or maintain your weight. Imaging studies show that when someone is sleep-deprived, they are less likely to resist eating unhealthy foods because their brain responds differently to those foods than for people who are not sleep-deprived. Not getting enough sleep is also known to lower a person’s metabolic rate, therefore making your body work harder to process the foods you eat.  On average the fewer hours people sleep, the more they weigh, and the more likely they are to put on excess pounds over time.

In addition to maintaining weight levels, getting enough sleep helps regulate the production of insulin, the hormone directly connected to your blood sugar (glucose) levels. High levels of blood sugar make you more likely to develop diabetes and also affect your hunger and satiety levels, meaning that you might end up overeating again. And it doesn’t only affect adults. Because childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last 30 years, doctors are starting to focus on the role of sleep in weight control for children, as lack of sleep has been shown to increase the risk of obesity in children. Between the effects on blood pressure and sugar, it has become clear that sleep loss and excess body weight add significant risk to one’s health.

If you are struggling with your weight, The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method could be the answer. The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method is a medically designed protocol containing two key components – weight loss and healthier lifestyle education to assist you in maintaining your results after dieting. Developed and endorsed by medical physicians, Ideal Protein has helped people achieve their personal weight loss goals through comprehensive guidelines and tools and personalized ongoing support. At Greater Boston Gastroenterology, our staff is trained as advisers for our Ideal Protein weight loss program. To learn more, call to make an appointment for a consultation with our team, or attend one of our free informational events.