Research has identified a link between sleep and obesity, in which people that slept fewer hours each night tended to have higher weights. Looking closer at this connection, researchers found that the body releases grehlin when it is tired. Ghrelin is the hormone that makes us feel hunger. Thus, it is suggested that when we are sleep deprived, we have a larger amount of grehlin traveling around our body, increasing our hunger and causing us to overeat. This is a pretty significant finding, given the National Institute of Health reports that 80% if teens are getting less than the recommended 9 hours of sleep and that nearly 30% of adults report getting less than 6 hours of sleep.
Even if there wasn’t a link between sleep and overeating, adequate sleep is, in itself, very important for health. Sleep experts offer these tips to help you hit the needed amount of z’s:
- Prioritize – There is never enough time for anything in life BUT priorities must be made. Consider bumping sleep up your priority list. You may find that the extra sleep actually doesn’t effect what you accomplish during the day because you are able to feel better and function better with more sleep.
- Fix the environment – Remove TVs and other electronic devices from bedrooms. Create an ideal bedroom for sleep by making it dark, cool, and quiet.
- Manage stress to help your brain and body be relaxed enough for sleep
- Stick to a schedule – Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day to reinforce your body’s sleep-awake cycle. Do the same thing each night right before bed to create a bedtime ritual that lets it is time to wind down. However, if you find that you don’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing instead of stressing over falling asleep.
- Limit daytime naps and sleeping in places other than the bedroom
- Watch your diet – Going to bed hungry, overly full can make it difficult to nod off. Likewise, caffeine can make it difficult to fall asleep.
- Increase daily physical activity