Dear Lifestyler
If an improved diet and extra trips to the gym failto help shed those excess pounds, a growing body of research is shininglight on a new way to get to a new you: Do nothing.Do nothing, that is, but sleep.
As millions of Americans move through life weary andsleep-deprived, scientists are uncovering more and more evidence thatinsufficient slumber may cause hormonal shifts that boost both hungerand appetite - particularly for fat-laden carb catastrophes likejelly-filled donuts and super-sized fries.
"We all need to be aware there is a relationship between sleepand obesity," says J. Catesby Ware, chief of the division of sleepmedicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and director of the SleepDisorder Center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va.
Ware and his colleagues found signs of this link in a recentlycompleted study of more than 1,000 men and women that indicated thosewho reported sleeping less also weighed more.
He is now in the midst of new research focusing on anothergroup of 1,000 individuals that is quantifying specific daily sleephabits, with preliminary data reinforcing his previous observation -less sleep equals a bigger belly.
"There are a number of research studies that all support thethesis that too little sleep leads to weight gain," Ware said. "Howthat happens is still somewhat unclear, but there are hormonalsecretions that are affected with sleep loss that apparently affectappetite and eating."
Other researchers are working to unravel the mechanism behind the mystery.
Eve Van Cauter, a professor of medicine at the University ofChicago, recently found that when 12 healthy men in their 20s wereinstructed to sleep just four hours a night for two nights straight,they reported an increase in feelings of hunger by 24 percent.
What's more, Cauter and her colleagues noted that levels of thehormone leptin, which delivers feelings of satiation to the brain,decreased by 18 percent among the men.
Conversely, levels of the hormone ghrelin, which sparks hunger,shot up 28 percent - prompting cravings for candy, cookies and cake.
Dr. Phyllis Zee, a professor of neurology at the NorthwesternUniversity Feinberg School of Medicine, said that while researcherscontinue to be stymied by the exact nature of the sleep-weightconnection, the relationship is undeniable.
"This kind of short-term sleep deprivation study supports therelationship we see in the larger population-based studies, which showsthat if you restrict sleep, the hormonal and metabolic profiles beginto resemble those of people who are pre-diabetic, while bringing aboutautonomic changes that can be related to the development ofcardiovascular disease," added Zee, director of the Sleep DisordersCenter at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
According to several polls by the National Sleep Foundation,many Americans of all ages barely meet or fail to meet the minimaldaily sleep requirements most physicians and researchers recommend.
In its most recent 2005 survey, the NSF found that more than 70percent of adults over the age of 18 get less than eight hours of sleepa night on weekdays - and 40 percent get less than seven hours.
A 2003 poll found that, on average, American adults between theages of 18 and 54 sleep just 6.7 hours a night during the week, andseven hours a night on weekends.
Among older adults - those between 55 and 84 - 13 percent sleepless than six hours a night during the week, while 11 percent have asimilar sleep pattern on weekends.
Against such a national backdrop of sleep deprivation,researchers concur that the battle of the bulge may ultimately best bewaged beneath the sheets.
"Between seven and eight hours seems to be a fairly magicalnumber for sleep duration," said Zee. "People who report, on average,getting between seven and eight hours of sleep are the ones who appearto have the lowest risk" of weight gain.
Ware agreed: "By sleeping more, you gain on all fronts. If youare obese and are trying to lose weight, it's almost a no-brainer."
Thanks Alan Mozes for your valuable contribution, you're much appreciated...
technorati tags:nutrition, vitamins, weight, gain, sleep, disorder
