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Sleep Less, Stay up Late, Gain Weight? Doctor: 0.8kg Increase in Just 5 Days of Sleep Deprivation!
pine Webmaster of Pineapple
2022/08/22 04:23
508 topics published
2021-02-11 15:23:00 Health Plus / Surgeon Chen Rong-Jian

Many people know that weight loss is related to sleep, but is it easier to gain weight with less sleep or more sleep? Surgeon Chen Rong-Jian provides the answer.

In modern society, less sleep actually leads to weight gain

In the past, obesity was often attributed to being "gluttonous and lazy"—eating more and sleeping more would lead to weight gain. However, in modern society, insufficient sleep is more likely to cause obesity. While obesity is linked to diet and exercise, it is even more closely tied to sleep. This is primarily because sleep affects the secretion of hormones in the body, including adrenaline, insulin, glucagon, ghrelin, leptin, and even more specialized hormones like gut hormones, GLP-1, PYY, and melatonin. These hormones become dysregulated when sleep is inadequate.

Why does staying up late lead to obesity?

Melatonin, in particular, has been proven to have a strong connection with insulin resistance, which is closely associated with metabolic syndrome and obesity. So why do people feel hungrier the later they stay up? It’s because leptin secretion decreases while ghrelin secretion increases. According to foreign studies, if infants and young children experience insufficient sleep early in life, their likelihood of developing obesity and metabolic syndrome later in life increases. Similarly, school-aged children who lack sufficient sleep or have irregular sleep patterns also face a higher risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Insufficient sleep also affects behavioral patterns. The later one stays awake, the more stress the body tends to produce. To counteract this discomfort, the body triggers another mechanism that encourages the consumption of sugary foods.

How many hours of sleep are enough?
For adults, sleeping less than 6 hours is considered insufficient. Generally, a healthy individual needs at least 7 hours of sleep. If sleep is less than 6 hours for more than 5 days, weight gain can increase by 0.8 kg.

Getting enough sleep is important, but so is sleeping at the right time

Night owls are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome and obesity over time. Therefore, it’s not enough to just clock in 7 hours of sleep whenever possible. Since the body’s hormone secretion follows a specific rhythm and timing, disrupting this pattern can still lead to reduced leptin, increased ghrelin, and elevated adrenaline levels, making people crave sugary foods for extra calories.

As such, doctors emphasize that for those looking to lose weight, controlling diet, exercising, and maintaining regular, sufficient sleep at the right times are all crucial.

Source: https://health. udn. com/ health/ story/ 5974/ 5247945
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