Is a Lack of Sleep Making You Fat?

Last week during one of my sessions, I asked one of my patients how much sleep she gets on an average night. Judging by her drawn face, I knew it couldn’t be much. She looked at me and laughed: “I’m lucky if I get five or six hours a night.”

This situation is typical. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 63 percent of American adults don’t get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night. Trust me, I understand there’s so much to do and only 24 hours to do it in! But we need to start putting sleep at the top of our to-do lists. Why? Being tired can lead to being overweight.

In the mid-afternoon, it’s easy to confuse exhaustion with hunger, so we might eat just because we’re tired. And the foods we seek then are often high in fat and carbohydrates. The problem is part mental, of course, but also physiological. Sleep deprivation can have neuro-hormonal effects. Studies show it leads to elevated levels of serum ghrelin, which is our appetite-stimulating hormone, and lower levels of leptin, a hormone that tells our brains when we’re full. As a result, we take in more calories and thus gain weight. Not to mention, fatigue can also make us sedentary.

Another reason to ensure you're getting enough zz’s? A study out of the University of Chicago found that for every one hour you cut your sleep, your risk for high blood pressure increases by 37 percent!

The bottom line: As multiple studies show, there is a relationship between sleep and health, including weight. So as hard as it is to get seven to nine hours a night, we really should. Start considering sleep part of a healthy lifestyle!