Getting your Zzzz's helps you stay trim!

Getting eight hours of sleep isn’t just for school kids anymore. We’ve heard it growing up, and even as adults – you need to get enough sleep every night. It’s helpful to feel our best, and most productive, but did you know it also has a big effect on our weight loss and health?

Unfortunately, slow and cranky mornings aren’t the worst of it. When you don’t get enough sleep, several things start happening to your body…and one of the biggest changes happens in your brain.

Sleep Less, Weigh More!

Researchers from Columbia University discovered that people who get less than seven hours of sleep per night are generally heavier, and have a harder time losing weight. Other studies of the general populations also proved that the fewer hours of sleep adults and children get, the more likely it is for them to be overweight.

The relationship between the amount we eat when we’re sleep-deprived and when we’re well-rested has also been discussed at length. And you guessed it – we eat more when we’re tired. This is because certain areas in our brain are triggered when we’re tired, and in this instance, it is the area that manages our behavior and self-control... not for the better. What this all suggests is that losing sleep actually leads to gaining weight – from overeating and poor food choices.

Junk Food and Sleep Deprivation

Studies conducted by Matthew P. Walker, a University of California at Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience, suggested that there are major changes in the way our brains respond to junk food when we don’t get enough sleep. Participants in this study were tested to see how they reacted to certain foods after varying amounts of sleep.

This study showed that when people were deprived of sleep, high-calorie and fatty foods triggered things in a part of their brains that helps decide when it’s time to eat. Uh oh. This means when we’re tired, we’re more likely to eat those chips, candies and unhealthy snacks.

Impulse Eating

Yes, this is bad, but there’s more. These same participants who were deprived of sleep also experienced a big drop in activity in a different part of the brain. The part that makes sound decisions and processes consequences. So, on top of craving high-calorie foods, you lose the ability to make good choices and start making impulse decisions — usually in the form of junk food.

Regardless of what is causing it, there have been plenty of studies conducting to prove the strong connection between sleep and weight gain. The University of Colorado at Boulder recently conducted tests that showed participants gained about two pounds each when they lost sleep a few nights in a row.

Binging

We’re also beginning to find that when we’re tired, we overeat, even when we’re not hungry. Although you may feel like you’re running on empty and need to fill up with some calories, take a step back, a deep breath maybe eat a healthy snack and get some sleep. The sleepier you get, the more calorie-rich foods you crave.

So the next time you’re considering working late into the night, staying up to binge-watching your fave show,s or can’t decide if you want “just one more” drink – remind yourself of this article. Not getting enough sleep at night isn’t just creating bags under your eyes, it’s playing with your mind and your health. So, let’s get some sleep!