Not Enough Sleep Can Lead to Obesity

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Most Americans these days are extremely busy with work, kids, preparing meals, going to the gym, etc. We don’t always have time to get an adequate amount of sleep (7 to 8 hours). Now a new study suggests that not getting a full night’s sleep might be affecting something other than day-to-day productivity – our waistlines.

Not enough sleep seems to be more of a risk for gaining weight than depression or physical inactivity. Two reasons for this – the hormones ghrelin and leptin. Leptin is a hormone that lets you know when you’re no longer hungry. After you eat, leptin is released in your brain to suppress the appetite. On contrast, ghrelin is a hormone that helps us feel hunger when we haven’t eaten.

When a person hasn’t had adequate sleep – less than 7 hours, usually – the next day levels of leptin are decreased and levels of ghrelin are increased – causing us to feel less satiated and more hungry even after consuming meals. This leads to eating more to feel full, which in turn leads to weight gain.

Now, a recent study suggests that people who only get 5 to 6 hours of sleep have a 69 percent increased risk obesity. Oddly enough, the risk was also elevated for people who get too much sleep – 38 percent for those who sleep 9 to 10 hours. Clearly, somewhere around 8 hours is your best bet to avoid weight gain.

Although sleep often gets sacrificed for jobs or other activities, making an effort to get yourself to bed at a decent hour may be crucial if you want to decrease your obesity risk.