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

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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/
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Replies

  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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: 1,495 Member
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    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: 27,966 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    :|:|:| Yeah.... could someone tell my 1 & 2-1/2 year old boys this.... thanks! :D:s
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,982 Member
    edited August 2019
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    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: 7,467 Member
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    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.

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