Sleep, sleep, sleep…
Sleep. Get too much of it and people think you’re a lazy slug—and when I oversleep, I usually don’t feel alert and refreshed. Get too little sleep and it is definitely unhealthy. At least that’s what I’ve always heard. I haven’t taken the time to study much about sleep deprivation, but I know it’s hard on your body when you don’t get enough rest.
A daily rest period isn’t the only thing that improves our health. We need a break from our daily work. We need a time to rest from our hectic schedules. I noticed a guy I follow on Twitter mention yesterday that he is, “Taking an Internet vacation. No email, Twitter, blog reading, etc for a week starting tomorrow. Will it make me sane or drive me crazy (er)?” I like his idea. It would probably be well if all of us could take a regular break from the world-wide web. Even the Bible teaches us to rest: one day in seven (and I really enjoy my weekends.) Just how important is rest and relaxation? How critical is rest and sleep to help us lose weight and maintain good health?
My Grandfather often said a change is better than a rest. Of course, he was a workaholic—a young man during the Great Depression and through experience and necessity learned the value of industry. But I don’t think he had the best overall policy. Maybe choosing a different activity is good mentally and emotionally, but we definitely need time to physically shutdown and relax. (I must give him a bit of credit though… he closed his business one day a week and he did enjoy taking his grandson fishing—although he probably didn’t go often enough.) To maintain good health we must make time daily for sleep, take time weekly in a relaxing weekend, and annually with planned vacation time.
The article I would like to share with you today focuses on the importance of sleep. I was surprised to learn about the hormones released during sleep. I didn’t remember hearing about that before (maybe I didn’t pay close attention in health class.) I hope you find the article helpful and that it might encourage you to change your habits if you are falling short of your body’s need to rest.
Have a great 4th of July weekend,
Kirk
Get Seven Hours of Shut-eye for a Healthier Mind and Body
by Jillian Michaels, Losing it With Jillian, Online July 03, 2009
A full night’s sleep is not a luxury — it’s a basic necessity for healthy hormone balance. Once you dip below seven hours a night, you are increasing your risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, and obesity.
Some researchers believe that slow-wave sleep — the deep, dreamless sleep that you ideally sink into about three or four times a night — may actually regulate your metabolism. Sleep researcher break down sleep into five stages. Stage 4 slow-wave sleep, which begins about an hour after we fall asleep, is when we release our greatest pulses of growth hormone, the hormone that prompts the body to burn stored fat. When we’re young, we spend about 20 percent of our time asleep in slow-wave stages 3 and 4. But as we get older, we may only spend about 10 or even 5 percent there.
Sadly, just two nights of bad sleep will cut your satiety hormone leptin by 20 percent and increase your hunger hormone ghrelin by 30 percent. That one-two punch makes you much more likely to snack on high-carb treats, which couldn’t come at a worse time for your insulin levels. In a recent study, University of Chicago researchers found that just three nights of poor sleep made the bodies of young, healthy test subjects 25 percent less sensitive to insulin. This level of insulin resistance is comparable to that brought on by carrying 20 to 30 extra pounds.
In order to block fat-storage hormones and allow the full release of fat-burning hormones, you need to get at least seven hours of sleep a night!
JILLIAN’S TIP OF THE DAY
No Carbs Before Bed
To slip into stage 3 or 4 sleep, you need to have a high level of ghrelin before bedtime. Carbs depress ghrelin faster than any other nutrient, so eating anything, especially carbs, before bed can delay your entry into deeper sleep for several hours. If you don’t get enough restful sleep, you’re likely to be hungrier and eat more. So to help you sleep well and deeply, let the hormones do their thing and don’t eat after 9 p.m.!
