How sleep affects your weight

[Guest guest]

How sleep affects your weight

Nutrition Action Healthletter, July-August, 2005

by David Schardt

 

Are the sleepless counting doughnuts and pies instead of sheep? " Americans sleep

less than they used to, and this could be part of the reason why more of us are

now overweight, " says David Dinges, Chief of the Division of Sleep and

Chronobiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Over the

past 40 years, Americans have cut their snooze time by one to two hours a night.

We now sleep less than people in any other industrialized country. And

researchers are discovering that sleep affects hormones that regulate satiety,

hunger, and how efficiently you burn calories. Too little sleep may make you

hungry, especially for calorie-dense foods, and may prime your body to try to

hold on to the calories you eat. It may also boost your insulin levels, which

increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

 

The Sleep-Weight Link

" Obesity is obviously a very complex issue, and no one is suggesting that lack

of sleep is the cause of the obesity epidemic, " says Carl Hunt, director of the

National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health

in Bethesda, Maryland.

" But new research certainly supports the idea that sleeping less may be a

previously unknown but important contributor to the obesity epidemic in the

U.S. " The link between sleep and weight was first noticed in the 1990s, when

European researchers were puzzling over why so many children were getting

heavier. " They were surprised to discover that it wasn't how much TV a child

watched, but how much sleep the child got, that best predicted whether he or she

was overweight, " says Dinges. " The less children slept, the heavier they were. "

Researchers in the U.S. are finding the same link in adults.

 

In the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, which tracks the sleep habits of nearly

3,000 middle-aged state government employees, those who reported that they

typically slept less than eight hours a night were more likely to be overweight.

(1) And researchers at Columbia University in New York City found that people

who slept six hours a night were 23 percent more likely to be obese than people

who slept between seven and nine hours. Those who slept five hours were 50

percent more likely--while those who slept four hours or less were 73 percent

more likely--to be obese. The connection between hours slept and weight wasn't

significant for people 60 and older, says James Gangwisch, a psychiatric

epidemiologist at Columbia, " probably because the sleep problems that are so

common in older people obscure the link. " (The analysis hasn't yet been

published.)

 

Leapin' Leptin

Why would people who sleep less weigh more? " The results are somewhat

counterintuitive, " says Gangwisch, since people burn more calories when they're

awake. " We think it has more to do with what happens to your body when you

deprive it of sleep, as opposed to the amount of physical activity you get. "

What happens involves two hormones: Leptin, which is released by fat cells,

signals the brain to stop eating. Ghrelin (pronounced GRELL-lin), which is made

in the stomach, is a signal to keep eating. The two influence whether you go for

a second helping or push yourself away from the table.

" Studies have shown that leptin levels are lower and ghrelin levels are higher

in people who sleep fewer hours, " says Gangwisch.

 

In the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, those who slept for five hours had 15

percent lower leptin levels and 15 percent higher ghrelin levels than those who

slept for eight hours. (1)

While the study wasn't designed to prove whether sleep deprivation causes

changes in leptin and ghrelin levels, new research at the University of Chicago

suggests that it does.

When Eve Van Cauter and co-workers limited 12 healthy young men to just four

hours of sleep for two consecutive nights, their leptin levels were 18 percent

lower and their ghrelin levels were 28 percent higher than after two nights of

sleeping for ten hours. (2)

" The combination of low leptin and high ghrelin is likely to increase appetite, "

says Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study researcher Emmanuel Mignot of Stanford

University (though " short sleepers may also have more time to overeat, " he

points out).

 

In fact, the men in Van Cauter's study said that they were more hungry--and that

they'd be more likely to eat salty foods like chips and nuts; sweets like cake,

candy, and ice cream; and starchy foods like bread, cereal, and potatoes--after

four hours of sleep than after ten hours. Compounding the problem: the brain

interprets a drop in leptin as a sign of starvation. So it responds not only by

boosting hunger, but by burning fewer calories. That means you put on more

weight even if you don't eat any more food.

 

Sleep Dreams

Sleep deprivation may stimulate more than your appetite. " It also affects

insulin resistance and blood glucose levels, which are two important components

of the metabolic syndrome, " says Carl Hunt of the National Center on Sleep

Disorders Research. The metabolic syndrome, also called insulin resistance

syndrome, is a cluster of symptoms that increases the risk of heart attack,

stroke, and diabetes. Signs of the syndrome are abdominal obesity, low HDL

( " good " ) cholesterol, and elevated (though not necessarily high) triglycerides,

blood pressure, and blood sugar. When the University of Chicago's Eve Van Cauter

and her colleagues limited 11 healthy men in their 20s to four hours of sleep

for six straight nights, " it brought them to a nearly prediabetic state. "

 

Their bodies were 40 percent less able to clear glucose from their blood and 30

percent slower in releasing insulin than when they were allowed to sleep for

twelve hours. (3) In fact, four hours of sleep for six consecutive nights gave

the young men the insulin sensitivity of 70- or 80-year-olds. " We didn't expect

to see a change of that magnitude, " says Van Cauter. (Insulin is a hormone that

lets glucose, or blood sugar, enter the body's cells, where the sugar is burned

for energy. When people are insulin insensitive, or insulin resistant, their

insulin doesn't work efficiently.) " The consensus that prevailed until recently

was that sleep is for the brain, not for the rest of the body, " says Van Cauter.

" But sleep really affects everything. We are not wired biologically for sleep

deprivation. We're the only animal that intentionally sleeps less than we need

to. "

(1) PLoS Med. 1:e62 2004 (Epub.).

(2) Ann. Intern. Med. 141: 846, 2004

(3) Lancet 354: 1435, 1999

RELATED ARTICLE: Sleepus interruptus.

 

Sleep less, weigh more. If true, that's not good news for the estimated 15

million Americans with sleep apnea

 

Sleep apnea (pronounced APP-knee-uh) typically occurs when the soft tissue in

the rear of the throat relaxes too much during sleep, partially blocking the

passage and cutting off the flow of air. The result: loud snoring and labored

breathing. If the passage closes entirely, no air can get through and breathing

stops until the brain rouses the person enough to gasp for air. According to the

American Sleep Apnea Association in Washington, D.C., some people with untreated

apnea stop breathing hundreds of times during the night, often for a minute or

longer. When they do fall back to sleep, it's generally to a lighter,

fragmented, less-restful stage that leaves them drowsy the next day.

 

It's not a minor problem: the number of Americans who have sleep apnea equals

the number who have diabetes. And, like those with diabetes, " the majority don't

know it or aren't being properly treated, " says Sleep Apnea Association

president Rochelle Goldberg. What's more, apnea " increases your risk for

developing high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and diabetes, for

suffering strokes, and for having accidents during the day. " How? " Obstructed

breathing produces an arousal response that revs up the body into a

'fight-or-flight' stance, " she explains. To divert blood to high-priority sites,

the blood vessels constrict and the heart rate increases. " Since the oxygen

supply is cut off at the same time, the circulatory system can be damaged,

especially if it happens again and again every night. "

 

And it's not just the blood vessels that pay. People with severe sleep

apnea--that means at least 15 breathing disruptions an hour--suffer a loss of

motor skills, attention, and concentration that's equal to an additional five

years of aging/ " Men are twice as likely as women to have sleep apnea, " says

Goldberg, " because the tissues in their throats are usually larger and thus more

likely to cause obstruction. " Ditto for people who are overweight. Even so, " you

can be thin as a rail and still have the airway characteristics that cause

apnea, " says Goldberg. It's a Snore. People with sleep apnea are more likely to

snore ... and to snore loudly. " If someone snores and wonders whether they have

sleep apnea, they should answer a few questions, " says Goldberg.

 

* If the snoring is pretty much every night, is there any irregular breathing or

pauses between the snores?

* Do you wake with some frequency at night, even if just to go to the bathroom?

* Do you still feel tired the next day after what seemed like a good night's

sleep?

* Do you have trouble concentrating and working through simple tasks during the

day?

* Do you have headaches while you sleep or when you wake up?

" The most effective treatment for sleep apnea is CPAP, or continuous positive

airway pressure, " says Goldberg. It's a machine with a mask that attaches over

the face and keeps the air passage open by forcing air through the nose and

mouth throughout the night. Not everyone can tolerate it.

Dental appliances and surgery work about half the time, while drugs and

supplements don't work at all, says Goldberg.

(1) Amer. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 156: 1813, 1997.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Center for Science in the Public Interest

COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

My brother, my mom and I all have sleping problems and we are all underweight.

I have to go in for a sleep study soon too.

 

I had one room mate who had sleping problems and he just ate and ate and ate! I

love cooking and baking, so I guess I was just adding to his problems. Still

though the brownies and cakes and pies were for me, not him! I rarely eat when

my sleeping pattern is off.

[Guest guest]

Do you have insomnia?

I've had it all my life.

Donna

 

--- Elizabeth S <landofthelizards wrote:

 

> My brother, my mom and I all have sleping problems

> and we are all underweight. I have to go in for a

> sleep study soon too.

>

> I had one room mate who had sleping problems and he

> just ate and ate and ate! I love cooking and

> baking, so I guess I was just adding to his

> problems. Still though the brownies and cakes and

> pies were for me, not him! I rarely eat when my

> sleeping pattern is off.

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Elizabeth,

'

I saw that article you are talking about. Sometimes it helps if you do

pranayama before you go to sleep. There are also yoga postures to do before

sleep and meditate before sleep.. Sometimes it helps to sleep on the right

side. If yousleep on the right side it will definitely keep you awake.

 

GB

 

Re: How sleep affects your weight

 

My brother, my mom and I all have sleping problems and we are all

underweight. I have to go in for a sleep study soon too.

 

 

 

 

 

Gurubandhu

 

If you cannot see God in all,

You cannot see God at all.

 

Yogi Bhajan

 

 

Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using

Messenger with Voice.

 

 

[Guest guest]

I used to do alot of Yoga, but now am limited due to health problems. So I can

only do certain types but I have tried certain yoga techniques that unfotunately

did not help very much. I have an oriental medicine doctor here who had me try

tons of things, some would work and the stop, and then others would not work at

all. Modern medicine usually has the opposite effect on me for example - ambien

makes me hallucinate, paxil makes my muscles so tense I can't move, etc etc. My

dad has sleep apnea so they speculate I could have that - hense the sleep test.

I have had sleeping problems for agood 8 months now, some times I am able to

sleep (which is once a week if that) and other times I will be up until my body

turns itself off.

 

Guru Khalsa <greatyoga wrote: Elizabeth,

'

I saw that article you are talking about. Sometimes it helps if you do

pranayama before you go to sleep. There are also yoga postures to do before

sleep and meditate before sleep.. Sometimes it helps to sleep on the right

side. If yousleep on the right side it will definitely keep you awake.

 

GB

 

Re: How sleep affects your weight

 

My brother, my mom and I all have sleping problems and we are all

underweight. I have to go in for a sleep study soon too.

 

 

 

 

 

Gurubandhu

 

If you cannot see God in all,

You cannot see God at all.

 

Yogi Bhajan

 

Blab-away for as little as 1�/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using

Messenger with Voice.