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The Nutrition Sleep Connection |
| M. Miller, RD |
| 2007-12-12 |
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Americans are busy.
We’re busy with our careers, rushing for the morning train, dashing from meeting to meeting, from class to class, with our workloads piling higher with each passing day. Most Americans will attest that they’re just too busy to make time for two important parts of their lives: eating and sleeping.
What is the result? One nation, overtired, with fast food and junk food for all.
That might be a fact of life. But bad eating and bad sleeping are a bad combination. A report published in November’s (2007) edition of Nutrition journal researched the effects of poor sleeping habits alone on obesity. In this study, middle-aged women recorded data ADVERTISEMENT including how long they slept over a 7-day period, as well as their diet records. At the same time, researchers measured skin fold thickness and waist-to-hip ratios on the participants, indices used to estimate body fat and abdominal obesity.
Bad news for sleep-deprived Americans: researchers found that shorter sleep duration was associated with higher body fat. Participants who had less sleep were also more likely to have a high BMI value, an index of weight-for-height ratio that serves as a good predictor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions associated with being overweight.
Do you get thinner while you sleep? Does counting sheep burn calories? The questions this study raises are numerous, but this isn’t the first study to explore a potential link between sleep and obesity. Earlier reports indicate that sleep deprived adults consume more calories and prefer high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods (translation: potato chips and ice cream). Interestingly, shorter sleep time is reported to be associated with chemical changes that alter hormones that normally regulate appetite, like leptin, ghrelin, and serotonin. In these studies, sleep-deprived adults demonstrated lower leptin levels, the hormone that suppresses appetite, and higher ghrelin levels, the counter-hormone that stimulates the appetite. Collectively, these biochemical changes are setting the stage for a late-night bedtime snack, one that’s likely not going to be spinach and alfalfa sprouts.
It’s no wonder, then, that in the city that never sleeps, obesity statistics are on the rise. But Americans can do their share to combat this problem. First, understand the importance of sleep in maintaining overall good health. It’s just like re-charging a cell phone, except it takes roughly seven to eight hours and you need to be lying down for it to happen. When sleep-deprivation is inevitable, try to modify your late-night eating habits for healthier choices. You may have cravings for high-calorie snacks, but if you keep more nutritious choices available, dinner’s leftover chicken salad or fruit, for example, can make a big difference.
Get a good night’s sleep. It may turn out to be the easiest diet tip yet. |
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