'Sleep deprivation gives you a fatter belly'

Sharing an article from Diabetes Diet Blog

"In young adults sleep deprivation has been found to cause fat accumulation in the belly for the first time.

Naima Covassin from the Mayo Clinic Rochester Minnesota studied 12 healthy slim young people aged between 19 and 39. The poor souls were randomised to two weeks of just 4 hours sleep a night or 9 hours sleep followed by a three day recovery period. During this time the subjects were kept in hospital and factors such as calorie intake and energy output were measured.

Over the two weeks of sleep deprivation, the subjects put on an average of a pound or half a kilogram and all of it on the belly.

This was because they consumed an extra 308 calories a day compared to the 9 hours a night group.

Despite stopping the study after two weeks and then during recovery sleeping more, eating fewer calories and their total weight coming down, their bellies continued to get bigger, by an average of 3 cm by day 21 of the study.

This could be why shift workers are so prone to gaining fat around the belly.

The continued rise in belly fat could have been missed if body weight, BMI and overall body fat percentage were the only factors measured.

Dr Harold Bays who is an endocrinologist and president of the Louisville Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Centre says “Sleep disruption results in fat dysfunction and this may result in increased cardiovascular risk factors and unhealthy body composition including an increase in visceral fat.”"

Words above taken from here

Related Post

Things Your Mind and Body Are Doing While You Sleep

You are probably well aware that your body requires adequate sleep every night – ideally around seven to eight hours – to function properly and maintain your health, but you may not realize how much goes on while you are sleeping.

One of which is throughout the night, you lose weight due to expelling humid air and losing water through perspiration. As opposed to during the day, there is no consumption of food or beverages to offset this effect. This leads to a decrease in pounds by the morning. During sleep, your body also regulates hunger hormones. This means that you are better equipped to fight off junk food cravings if you got an appropriate amount of sleep the night before.

Read more here

We bring a variety of articles, studies etc. plus recent news/views and recipe ideas to this blog, we hope something for everyone to read and enjoy. Please note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. If you have any concerns about your health it is always advisable to consult your Doctor or health care team.

All the best Jan