Sleep Deprivation Another Obesity Factor?

I remember reading an article a few years ago, and reporting on it, about how there are several (I think it was ten) environmental and lifestyle factors that have evolved over the years and contributed greatly to the obesity problem we face today as Americans. One of them was lack of sleep. We find ourselves today, in this fast paced workaholic world, getting less and less quality sleep.

What scientific research has shown repeatedly is that people who are sleep deprived have larger appetites, and tend to consume more food and crave carbohydrates more after a night where they have received less sleep than the ideal. The ideal is still 8 hours, but 7 hours usually works for most people as well. More than this can actually also work against you, so it’s good to operate on the 8 hour rule of thumb for most people’s metabolism.

What I’ve noticed personally is that I do tend to want to munch more when I haven’t gotten adequate sleep, and I seem to crave the worst possible junk foods as well. Maybe this is my body’s way of trying to energize artificially, through excess carb consumption?  I’m not sure, but this rule of lack of sleep and increased food consumption DEFINITELY applies to me.

A higher BMI (body mass index, which measures the amount of body fat your body is composed of vs. muscle) is also associated with people who consistently do not get enough sleep, so there is a real correlation here.

Sleeping is vital to not only your mental health and physical health, but it also helps you to focus, gives you the needed energy to get through your day, and amps up your body by revitalizing and restoring a lot that was lost during the day. Sleep is so important to us that lack of sleep on a consistent basis has been shown to lead to psychosis, and even more severe mental problems, including temporary insanity in severe situations, and delusions.

So as you can see, sleep is a function of the body that we cannot live without or skimp on for too long without serious consequences.  Plus sleep feels good, I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to slip onto that pillow top mattress after a hard day’s work every night!  Ahhhhh……