Is Low Quality of Sleep Linked to Weight Gain?

The human body has a necessity of sleep, quite logically, in order for it to function properly. You don’t want to ‘overheat’ the body’s mechanism by avoiding time required for rest with sleep included. During those approximate 7 hours of sleep there is a possibility of gaining weight, but not much and not overnight though.

A study in Finland that was made over 7.300 people among the age of 40 to 60 years showed that women are more likely to gain weight due to less sleeping time. The survey lasted 2 years and gave the results that women who had problems falling a sleep and then waking up just couple of hours later, gained about 11 pounds.

The situation is entirely different about men. They seem to not gain any weight at all if they have problems with sleeping.  This is probably due to the fact that the male body has a long history of physical strength and mobile capabilities. Since men, statistically, are more included in sports and activities, their body hardly waits for night to fall in order to get its proper rest.

It still stay unclear how could the male body stay unaffected by the sleeping problem. Probably because the number of men surveyed in the study is three times less than women (women 5.700 and men 1.300). But still, the number of men gaining weight in this group is almost zero.

However, many factors come in to play when it comes to weight loss or weight gain during sleep. The normal time of sleep is 7 hours in a 24 hour day. Many nutritionists recommend not eating before going to bed; in fact, not to eat after 7 PM. If you eat before sleep, the body must work to process the food. No quality sleep comes from a full stomach when the body is working and your eyes and brain try to sleep.

So sleeping under these circumstances can cause weight gain in time, but not overnight. The problem is that instead of waking up felling rested, you will wake up even more tired than when you went to bed.

Shifting the time of sleep, cutting the time of sleep, even continuing the time of sleep affects the metabolism and the appetite. Probably the worst combination is when you can’t fall a sleep on an empty stomach, which is very normal.

People in this situation must have a bite before going to bed, and then wake up the next morning feeling very tired. Even if they sleep for 9 hours they still need more time to sleep in order to have a fresh start.