You Need Help Sleeping If You Want To Lose Weight

Recent research has discovered that you can double your likelihood of achieving your goal weight if you get between six and eight hours sleep each night.

If you sleep more, it will make you too inactive and if you sleep any less your stress levels will increase and at the same time you will crave unhealthy food.

The study in Portland, USA, by Kaiser Permanente, a health care consortium, revealed that people trying to lose 10lb or more were more likely to reach their target if they had lower stress levels and slept moderately.

472 overweight adult participants with an average age of 55 took part in the study.  They attended 22 behavioral counselling sessions, reduced their diet by 500 calories a day and increased the physical exercise they took to a minimum of 180 minutes per week.  They also had to keep a daily note of their habits, including their sleep patterns and stress levels.

Six months later, 60% of the people had lost at least 10lb.  Researchers found that the dieters who were successful were more likely to document that they had slept between 6 and 8 hours every night.  Almost three quarters of the participants who had both low stress levels and 6 to 8 hours sleep a night were likely to achieve the 10lb weight-loss target.  They were also twice as likely to be successful as those who reported the highest stress levels and 6 or less hours sleep each night.

"This study suggests that when people are trying to lose weight, they should try to get the right amount of sleep and reduce their stress," said chief author, Dr Charles Elder.  "Some people may just need to cut back on their schedules and get to bed earlier. Others may find that exercise can reduce stress and help them sleep.  For some people, mind-body techniques such as meditation also might be helpful."

The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity on March 29th 2011.

Conclusion:  You must get help sleeping if you want or need to lose weight.

How Your Sleep Apnea Disorder Can Trash Your Diet!

According to the London Sleep Centre, about 6 percent to 8 percent of males over age 50 suffer from sleep apnea, while about 4 percent of females over 50 are afflicted.

The American Sleep Apnea Association defines obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as a disorder that results in the soft tissues in the back of the throat temporarily collapsing and causing frequent interruptions in breathing.  When the airway is obstructed, the brain briefly arouses you in order to signal you to resume breathing, therefore resulting in disrupted or poor sleep patterns.

A new Harvard study reveals that OSA patients eat a less healthy diet than people without the disorder.  Test results showed that participants with OSA consumed 9 extra grams of saturated fat and 88 extra milligrams of cholesterol each day.

Researchers believe this may result in the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in OSA patients.  Raised blood pressure levels have also been reported in OSA patients. 

Severe OSA obviously should not be ignored.  By treating the symptoms early you can avoid other related health problems such as memory lapses, weight gain, sexual dysfunction and headaches.

Alcohol At Bedtime May Not Help Sleeping

Do you indulge in a nightcap to help sleeping? It may not be as effective as you had believed, new research suggests.

A large study on alcohol’s effects on sleep shows that drinking alcohol before bed may disrupt sleep and increase wakefulness, affecting women more than men. (The detailed research will be reported in the May 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Researchers)

Leader of the study J.Todd Arnedt, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Michigan, says in a news release: “It’s clear that a substantial portion of the population uses alcohol on a regular basis to help with sleep problems. This perception may relate to the fact that alcohol helps people fall asleep quickly and they may be less aware of the disruptive effects of alcohol on sleep later in the night.”

The study, which included 93 healthy adults in their 20s (59 women and 34 men), took place over two nights, the first night with an alcoholic drink and the second night with a “placebo” drink.

The participants were monitored during their sleep and filled out questionnaires on sleepiness and sleep quality before bedtime and when awakened the next morning.

Alcohol and Sleep: Men versus Women

 

The findings showed that alcohol interfered in the women's sleep more than in the men's. Women’s total sleep time was reduced by 19 minutes, sleep efficiency decreased by 4%, and there was a 15-minute increase in the time they spent awake during the night after drinking alcohol, compared to the placebo night. Sleep continuity following an alcoholic drink compared to the placebo was not materially different in men.

“These differences may be related to differences in alcohol metabolism,” states Arnedt, “since women show a more rapid decline in “breath alcohol” following alcohol consumption than men.”

Conclusion

To sum up, it seems that, for women, an alcololic drink before bedtime is not going to help sleeping. It remains to be seen what results a larger amount of alcohol before bedtime would produce with regard to sleep quality and it's my guess that, if this kind of experiment were carried out, it would conclude that both women and men are substantially affected and that their sleep quality is very poor. Forget the nightcap if you need help sleeping - it's counter-productive!

Sleep-deprived Britain: Two thirds of us suffer from debilitating insomnia

The following is an interesting article by Sophie Borland from the UK's Daily Mail today and it highlights what I already expected - this problem is almost epidemic and underestimated by those who do not suffer:

"If you woke up this morning feeling grumpy and fed up because you didn’t sleep well, you weren’t the only one.  Almost two thirds of us struggle to get a good night’s rest, according to research. The problem has become so bad, experts say it constitutes a major public health concern.

Some 60 per cent of adults admit they have a sleep problem and rarely get the recommended six or seven hours a night.  More than a third suffer from insomnia, and many have battled with the condition for years. Doctors warn that sleeplessness leads to depression, lack of concentration and an inability to carry out simple tasks.

According to the findings of a major report, insomniacs are four times more likely to suffer from relationship problems. They are also three times more likely to have difficulties concentrating or be in a bad mood and twice as likely to have energy slumps.

A quarter of adults have other sleep-related problems such as teeth grinding or sleep apnea – a disorder characterised by abnormal pauses in breathing which causes sufferers to wake up in the night.

Just 39 per cent of us sleep well, according to the survey of 5,300 by the Mental Health Foundation. It is calling for sleep campaigns to make the public more aware of the importance of getting a good night’s rest."

 

Read more at: Sleep Deprived Britain

A Quote to Help You Sleep Better?

"The good sleep better but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more"
Just think carefully about that one!

Extra Sleep May Help Kids' Weight

A recent study shows the positive effect, extra sleep can have on children and their weight.

The study in the Pediatrics Journal, shows sleeping-in on weekends, can help reverse the negative effects of irregular sleep patterns, on young bodies.

Doctors monitored sleep patterns and body masses for 300 kids, between the ages of four and ten. Children who didn't make up the sleep they lost during the week, gained more weight.

Children with increased body mass indexes, were more likely to be obese in their later years.

This report is from CBS 42 News. It reverses everything I learnt when I was young when I believed that sleeping more would make me fat! I guess we need the right amount of sleep to maintain our "normal" metabolism.