How does sleep quality affect weight?

Imagine your body as a car and sleep as the fuel needed for its optimal operation. If you don’t get enough sleep, it feels like you’re driving your car with an empty tank or low-quality fuel. Just like a car struggles to run without enough fuel, your body can’t function properly without enough sleep .

The functional medicine approach is like the high quality fuel that supports normal body weight and whole body health. In this article, we’ll look at how sleep quality affects your ability to maintain a healthy weight and how functional medicine can be helpful in this process.

How does sleep quality affect weight?

Sleep quality plays a key role in maintaining a healthy weight. The link between poor sleep quality and weight gain underscores the importance of good sleep habits, especially in the context of the growing obesity epidemic worldwide. Statistics show that about 42% of US adults are overweight, while nearly 35% get less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep per night. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the quality of sleep for effective weight management.

What is quality sleep?

Quality sleep means that a person wakes up rested and refreshed. When sleep is poor, it can impair the body’s ability to maintain a healthy weight in the following ways:

• Hunger hormones throw themselves out of balance, making it harder to resist unhealthy foods.
• This leads to an increased desire to consume high-calorie and unhealthy foods.
• Lack of quality sleep impairs the way the body processes sugar, leading to fat storage.
• A person may feel tired and lack the motivation to exercise, making it difficult to maintain an active lifestyle.

Maintaining normal weight and sleep quality

Poor sleep quality can disrupt the balance of key hormones involved in weight maintenance. These hormones include ghrelin, which regulates hunger, and leptin, which promotes satiety.

A study that followed 3,000 participants for five years showed that 13.5% developed metabolic syndrome , and 46.9% of these patients were women. Metabolic syndrome is most prevalent among adults who sleep 6 hours or less per night and is lowest among those who sleep 7-9 hours per night.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that include:

• Increased blood pressure
• High blood sugar levels
• Excess body fat around the waist
• High cholesterol or triglyceride levels

Metabolism and insulin sensitivity

Insulin sensitivity and metabolism are closely related to weight maintenance and sleep quality. Poor sleep quality impairs glucose metabolism and promotes insulin resistance.

The results of an 18-year study involving 16,000 healthy participants show that when people sleep less than 6 hours a night, the risk of developing various health problems increases significantly. These problems include:

• Obesity (accumulation of fat in the abdominal area)
• Increased blood glucose levels
• High blood pressure
• Low HDL (good cholesterol) levels
• Hypertriglyceridemia (high levels of triglycerides in the blood)
• Metabolic syndrome (complex of disorders including insulin resistance, high blood pressure and lipid abnormalities)

The researchers concluded that sleep quality has a significant impact on metabolism and overall health.

Five tips to improve your sleep quality

How can you achieve quality sleep and maintain a healthy weight? Here are five tips to help you achieve it:

1. Meal time

Eating before bed can have a significant impact on the quality of your sleep. Large portions or spicy meals can cause stomach discomfort, heartburn or digestive problems that disturb sleep. Additionally, unhealthy habits or skipping meals can disrupt the circadian rhythms that regulate sleep and wakefulness.

How to do it:

• Try to eat at least 2-3 hours before bed. This gives the digestive system time to finish the digestion process and calm down.
• Choose light foods that are high in protein and low in fat. Among them are: chicken fillet, fish, eggs or yogurt.
• Avoid spicy, fatty and heavy meals, which can cause stomach problems and disturb your sleep.

2. Caffeine intake

Caffeine is known for its ability to stimulate the nervous system and disrupt sleep. Studies show that caffeine can reduce sleep time by up to 45 minutes and worsen sleep quality by 7%.

How to do it:

• Plan to not consume caffeinated beverages at least 8 hours before bed. For highly caffeinated beverages such as espresso or energy drinks, wait at least 12 hours.
• Be aware of hidden sources of caffeine such as chocolate, certain medications, and caffeinated beverages.
• Choose caffeine-free drinks in the afternoon and evening to avoid sleep disturbances.

3. Sleep routine

A regular sleep pattern is key to maintaining good sleep quality. Lack of consistency in the sleep schedule can lead to problems such as metabolic syndrome, obesity and cardiovascular disease .

How to do it:

• Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This helps your internal clock adjust and improve sleep quality.
• Set an alarm to remind you to go to bed and wake up. Try to strictly follow your regimen.
• Create bedtime routines like reading a book or listening to soothing music to signal your body that it’s time to sleep.

4. Exercises

Regular physical activity is important for both maintaining a healthy weight and improving sleep quality. Exercise helps regulate circadian rhythms and reduce stress, which can affect sleep.

How to do it:

• Incorporate moderate aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling into your daily routine. Studies show that aerobic exercise improves sleep quality and reduces symptoms of insomnia.
• Combine aerobic exercise with strength exercises such as weight lifting or yoga.
• Avoid vigorous exercise in the late afternoon or evening, as it can increase energy levels and make it harder to fall asleep.

5. Avoiding screen time before bed

Blue light emitted by computer screens, phones and televisions can disrupt the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. Exposure to blue light before bed can delay falling asleep and impair sleep quality.

How to do it:

• Try to avoid using electronic devices at least 1 hour before bed.
• If you must use screens, enable night light mode or blue light filters that reduce exposure to blue light.
• Create a calming evening routine without electronic devices, such as reading a book, listening to relaxing music or meditating.

Following these tips will help you improve your sleep quality and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Tips for improving sleep quality:

• Avoid fatty and spicy foods before bed: They can cause discomfort and disrupt sleep.
• Don’t consume caffeine late in the day: Caffeine can disrupt sleep, so it’s best to avoid it in the afternoon.
• Establish a regular sleep pattern : Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
• Get regular exercise: Physical activity improves sleep quality, but avoid intense workouts late at night.
• Avoid screen time before bed: Blue light from screens can make it difficult to fall asleep, so it’s a good idea to limit them at least 1 hour before bed.

Sweet dreams!

Sources:

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