OK– I’ve been doing some research on how hormones can affect weight loss and have found three key ones ghrelin – the hunger hormone, leptin– the fullness hormone and cortisol – the stress hormone…. are ALL affected by lack of sleep – below are some snippets I took from the internet.
What Happens to the Body When There is a Lack of Sleep
- When your body does not receive enough sleep, hormones are increased such as the stress hormone called cortisol. The result is an increased appetite. Because the body lacks sleep, it has a difficult time metabolizing carbohydrates. This leads to high blood sugar levels, which then causes an increase in insulin. The increase in insulin is a signal to the body to store unused energy as fat. People who continue to have sleep deprivation have increased chances of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and memory loss. Basically, the body ages faster.
Read more: How Does Sleep Affect Metabolism? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4587439_sleep-affect-metabolism.html#ixzz1nPXGpwss
Weight Gain
- A specific result of sleep deprivation is weight control problems. Systems like those that tell the body when it needs food and when it should store fat are partly hormonally based. Leptin, released by fat cells, helps control feelings of being full while ghrelin, released by the stomach, lets the body know if the stomach is empty. Sleep deprived people have low levels of leptin–they don’t feel satisfied–and high levels of ghrelin, so they feel hungry. The situation makes people laboring under a lack of sleep also feel they are suffering a lack of food.
Read more: How Does Lack of Sleep Affect the Body? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4963035_lack-sleep-affect-body.html#ixzz1nPWD7c3Gbelly fat, stress, cortisol,insomnia – author
Insomnia and increased stress cause abdominal fat
Cortisol, a stress hormone, rises with lack of sleep. This hormone plays a role in appetite control.
- A combination of fatigue, insomnia, and irregular hours contribute to weight gain in the stomach area.. Some people misinterpret body signals from elevated cortisol, with its increased blood sugar and insulin release, and eat when tired. This combination of increased cortisol, inactivity, lack of sleep, and eating, increases deposits of fat around the middle or on the abdomen.
- Cortisol, resulting from stress, interferes with falling asleep or remaining asleep. The cycle of hormone output, insulin release, and hunger continues. Shift work with its interrupted sleep patterns can be directly linked to belly fat deposit. Jokes about the overweight cop or fat nurse lose their humor when physiological rhythms are examined.
- Stress results in increased adrenalin and increased cortisol. Ideally cortisol causes fats and sugars to enter circulation to increase energy for handling stressful situations. Appetite is increased and fatty foods are eaten. The blood glucose is raised, and then dropped, so cortisol is again present and the pattern repeats.
- Abdominal fat can be treated by increasing sleep, reducing stress, eating properly, exercise, and normalizing cortisol levels. These simple behaviors are sometimes difficult to achieve although can improve the quality of life.
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