When sleep goes down, weight goes up (and muscle mass goes down).

shaumom
shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
edited April 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
"Lacking sleep, you experience multiple changes to your body that can lead to weight gain. Sleep deprivation causes changes to hormones that regulate hunger and appetite. The hormone leptin suppresses appetite and encourages the body to expend energy. Sleep deprivation reduces leptin. The hormone ghrelin, on the other hand, triggers feelings of hunger—and ghrelin goes up when you’re short on sleep.

Sleep deprivation changes what foods you’re most interested in eating, creating more intense cravings for fat and sugar-laden foods. Low on sleep, your brain can’t make reasoned decisions and use its best judgment about food, and you’re more likely to be impulsive and give into junk-food desires. (More on the powerful effects of sleep deprivation on the brain soon.)"

"A fascinating study from researchers at the University of Colorado found that one week of sleeping about 5 hours a night led participants to gain an average of 2 pounds."

In the article, there are some more facts (with links to the related research) on muscle mass, the immune system, and more, that are impacted by sleep deprivation. Interesting read.

https://thesleepdoctor.com/2018/04/10/sleep-deprivation/

Replies

  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
    meganpettigrew86 wrote: »
    Not sure I want to know that, my new born does not like sleeping at night.... Been rocking 3hrs sleep a few nights in a row :s

    Yep, and check out the rate your bubba puts on weight!! LOL.

    But seriously, I do notice a difference in how I eat when I haven't had enough sleep.
    When I am tired I find if I will go for the easy option, so if I can plan to have healthier snacks on hand so they are what I reach for, then I do okay.

    And also, if I haven't had enough sleep, I tend to move around a lot less, and I don't even fidget as much, so not using up as much energy.
  • surjiosurjio
    surjiosurjio Posts: 33 Member
    When u go sleep your body repairing itself and also burning calories to repair muscle tissue so more sleep is best and ur ready for a good gym session next day ay ya
  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    Anecdotally I have suffered with chronic insomnia for about 25 years. Most nights I have a decent handle on it. But every so often I will go through a few weeks where it is pretty bad and I'm barely sleeping. During that time I am so hungry and I crave high sugar treats. I've always thought I had cravings because my body was looking for energy somewhere since it wasn't getting the rest and repair it needed.

    Like I said, just anecdotal. But maybe there's some truth in there.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I am also a long term insomniac and while I do notice a difference in my hunger when I have gone with minimal to no sleep mindful eating decisions requires mindfulness. I can have decent (for me) sleep and can and have mindlessly polished off an entire bag of chips in front of the TV.

    If there was a valid excuse to eat somewhat automatically though I would think being sleep deprived with a newborn fits the bill.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    meganpettigrew86 wrote: »
    Not sure I want to know that, my new born does not like sleeping at night.... Been rocking 3hrs sleep a few nights in a row :s

    Man, you have my sympathies. Remind yourself it's temporary and de-load/postpone whatever tasks/chores you can. You'll have time to catch up when everyone is getting sleep. You'll have less stress if you can simplify what you expect of yourself now. Also, remember the next best thing to sleep is rest. Get what you can and take care of yourself!
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,509 Member
    Interesting. I find that when I am short on sleep, I tend to feel nauseated and don't want to eat. Conversely, on days like today where I went to bed early and got up half an hour before my alarm went off, I want to eat EVERYTHING! But this could be related to any number of factors.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Whilst it may be an interesting read, I doubt the significance of it for most people.

    The amount of difference it makes is likely to be way too small to be significant.

    Count yourself lucky if it doesn't make a big difference to you. It makes a hugely noticeable difference to me.

    Related to insufficient sleep, does anyone else have the low-leptin/high-ghrelin feeling the day after drinking alcohol? I don't notice if I just had a glass of wine, but if I had several, I'm a ravenous fiend the next day. It may be a different hormone response, but to me it FEELS just like when I don't get enough sleep (even if I slept a lot).

    Yes to both of your points.
  • magnusthenerd
    magnusthenerd Posts: 1,207 Member
    I find it interesting going the other direction. When I lose weight, somewhere around below 15% body fat I seem to lose the ability to stay asleep. I have mixed feelings about it right now because I am seem to have no detriment but I'm typically falling asleep around midnight and waking between 4 and 5 am. Heck, if I knew I could reduce my sleep needs to 4-5 hours a night with no real impact, I'd have leaned out years ago. So much more time for activities.
  • rockyhi512
    rockyhi512 Posts: 42 Member
    Lack of sleep does cause me to stop losing weight and gain. I maintain a calorie count of 1700 or less. When I go onto night shift my weight loss ends. I do not eat more or change the type of food. I eat high protein- low carb. This week I had 3 night shifts in a row. I managed about 3 hrs of sleep every morning after night shift. I watched the scale increase. I gained 3.5 lb between Monday morning and Thursday morning. Today after a normal night sleep I reduced by 1.3 lb. This is a normal cycle for me. It is very frustrating to go through this since my weight loss for this week will probably be 0.5lbs instead of 1.5 to 2. I have charted this in the passed with calorie counts and sleep hours. I always get the same results. On weeks that I don't do night shift and get sufficient sleep I have spectacular results.
  • brittgreenlikethecolor88
    brittgreenlikethecolor88 Posts: 1,080 Member
    :|:|:| Yeah.... could someone tell my 1 & 2-1/2 year old boys this.... thanks! :D:s
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    edited August 2019
    I only get about 6 hrs sleep a night and have had no problem losing and maintaining my wt.

    I'm an old guy (68) and do nap during the day but no where near 2 hrs. So, like most things, there are always exceptions to the purported "rule."
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,464 Member
    lalalacroix wrote: »
    Anecdotally I have suffered with chronic insomnia for about 25 years. Most nights I have a decent handle on it. But every so often I will go through a few weeks where it is pretty bad and I'm barely sleeping. During that time I am so hungry and I crave high sugar treats. I've always thought I had cravings because my body was looking for energy somewhere since it wasn't getting the rest and repair it needed.

    Like I said, just anecdotal. But maybe there's some truth in there.

    That’s me!
    Good sleep= eat healthy
    Bad/no sleep=lay down/sit down every chance I get, always looking for something to eat to give more energy= less calories burned and more calories eaten.
  • dhiammarath
    dhiammarath Posts: 834 Member
    edited August 2019
    The only thing I notice with lack of sleep is that my water weight goes up. (I attribute it more to stress-related -- when I'm exhausted, I'm more stressed, and then get more stressed thinking about being stressed, etc, etc).

    Once I start getting regular sleep, my weight whooshes all the water weight off. (I can tell because I feel it in my fingers and I know it's all water weight).

    My weight loss rate slows down a little bit because my neat activity drops like an anchor! I'm a bouncy, twitchy person but after a bout of insomnia, I might as well be a zombie. No longer dancing at the coffee machine, twitching my feet and bouncing in my seat while I code, moving my little foot thing under the desk, bouncing up and down from my chair to go talk to people. I'm more likely to sit and stare at the computer and not move.

    Other than that, lack of sleep has had a very small impact on my overall weight loss.
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
    Autism usually comes with sleep issues. There's nothing I can do about that. Deep sleep continuity is always pretty dire, and I've never had 8 solid hours. I don't know what proper sleep would do for my health.

    These studies on the impact of poor sleep are always rather depressing.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    Why We Sleep - Matthew walker - is a good read and talks about the study referenced by the OP
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,509 Member
    glovepuppet wrote: »
    Autism usually comes with sleep issues. There's nothing I can do about that. Deep sleep continuity is always pretty dire, and I've never had 8 solid hours. I don't know what proper sleep would do for my health.

    These studies on the impact of poor sleep are always rather depressing.

    That's interesting. I've always had sleep issues, but did not realize I was an Aspie until just a few years ago.
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
    edited August 2019
    Mouse_Potato wrote: »
    glovepuppet wrote: »
    Autism usually comes with sleep issues. There's nothing I can do about that. Deep sleep continuity is always pretty dire, and I've never had 8 solid hours. I don't know what proper sleep would do for my health.

    These studies on the impact of poor sleep are always rather depressing.

    That's interesting. I've always had sleep issues, but did not realize I was an Aspie until just a few years ago.
    I was actually relieved in a way, because I no longer felt pressured to take any of the endless words of well intentioned advice on what will absolutely cure my sleep issues.

    It's possible that we wouldn't have the same response to lack of sleep as neurotypicals. It's one of those "more research is needed" things.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    I used to think I got a decent amount of sleep, 7-8 hours. Then I got a FitBit and I have lots of data that told me I slept closer to 6 hours a night on the regular, sometimes less. Until last night, I'd only had one night that I got over 8 hours since I bought the Fitbit.

    Went to bed early, got over 9 hours last night. I woke up feeling well. Don't intend to get 9+ hours every night, but it was nice.

    I guess I'll see if I can maintain a positive change in my sleep levels if it has an effect it has on my overall wellbeing.
  • New_Heavens_Earth
    New_Heavens_Earth Posts: 610 Member
    Recently saw a dietitian (RD, Sports Nutrition) who said lack of quality sleep upsets the body's circadian rhythm and hormones such as cortisol, making it difficult, but not impossible, to lose or maintain weight. Could be a reason for weight issues with night workers.

    I was given several practical suggestions to get more and better sleep. All I can do is follow dietary advice and this, and see if there's a change.

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