Get Enough Sleep for the Best Results

Muscles aren't built at the gym; they are built when they are given time to rest and recuperate. But they can't rebuild as well if you're getting less than 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night. And recent research has shed light on why it's important to get enough sleep if you're looking to lose fat.

A sleep researcher, Dr. Eve Van Cauter, of the University of Chicago, published an article in the October 23rd, 2004, issue of the British medical journal Lancet. Dr. Van Cauter's team studied the effects of varied amounts of sleep in 11 healthy men, ages 18 to 27. The men spent eight hours in bed during the first three nights, four hours per night for the next six nights, and twelve hours per night for the remaining seven nights. Just one week of sleep deprivation revealed that the production of the growth hormone that helps control the body's proportion of muscle to fat was reduced.

This hormone is secreted mostly during the first round of deep, slow-wave sleep (to a greater extent in men than in women). This hormone is extremely important in controlling body weight. When the body produces less of this hormone, there is a tendency to store more fat. Depriving ourselves of proper sleep limits the
production of this hormone. Also, as we age, the time we spend in deep sleep lessens, making it even more imperative for us to get the sleep we need.

Another hormone that is effected by the amount and quality of sleep we get is leptin. This hormone plays a large part in our ability to control how much we eat. Leptin is the hormone that gives our body the signal that we've eaten enough; it's what tells us that we feel "full." Dr. Van Cauter's study revealed that sleep deprivation causes leptin levels to be reduced. This causes our bodies to crave carbohydrates even though we've consumed enough calories. Unless we can burn these excess calories, they will be converted to body fat.

As a result of sleep deprivation, we make the task of controlling our weight even more difficult - by beginning our day fatigued. In the book, The Promise of Sleep, Dr. William C. Dement writes that when people are sleep deprived, we lack energy during the day. This lack of energy means that not only do we accomplish less, we also don't burn as many calories. The body reacts to this by hoarding calories as fat, making weight loss very difficult.

This tip was provided by GlobalFitness.com

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