Sleep and weight

I recently came across an article that discussed the link between having enough sleep and maintaining a healthy weight. There are two hormones, ghrelin and leptin that help control appetite. When you do not get enough sleep, levels of ghrelin, which increase huger, rise. Consequently levels of leptin which promotes the feeling of fullness, lower. In addition to creating an imbalance in ghrelin and leptin, sleep deprivation causes the levels of stress hormones to rise which increases cravings for high - calorie comfort food. The brain secrets growth hormone during the deep sleep phase, helping the body convert fat to energy. The average adault needs five 90 minute sleep cycles per night, so around 7.5 hours is a good goal to shoot for.

Andrew

ajhoover, this is very very interesting information.

Can you please give a link to that article?

It is out of a paper bound journal so a link is not going to work. I can try and locate it for you, but i doubt the name would be much help.

also, less sleep is stresstful = more cortisol production = more visceral fat storage

bingo, i know these factors all too well from days i've run on 2-5 hours of sleep. some massive days of feeling massively hungry.

What's a good resource/book that will help learning all these?

Maybe "Lights Out, Sleep, Sugar, and Survival"

http://www.amazon.com/Lights-Out-Sleep-Sugar-Survival/dp/0671038680

Thanks Blairbob, but I meant it as "resource that contains information on the hormones that the human body produces", what each one does, how can it be limited/increased etc.

Not specifically for sleep.

irongymnast said:

Thanks Blairbob, but I meant it as "resource that contains information on the hormones that the human body produces", what each one does, how can it be limited/increased etc.

Not specifically for sleep.

Any physiology textbook?...

Any specific good one that you've read and recommend?

Also on the topic of sleep is this BBC article, about eating before sleeping making you put on weight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8234386.stm

rubadub said:

Also on the topic of sleep is this BBC article, about eating before sleeping making you put on weight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8234386.stm

www.hibernationdiet.com

A different perspective. I'm experimenting with the general concept (tablespoon of raw honey before bed) right now.

Garrett,

Could you explain the rationale behind it?

An interesting aside, Dr Eades (I believe it was him) recommends taking a 5g dose of carbohydrates prior to bed if you are having trouble sleeping on a low-carb diet.

Ed