The beauty of studying and applying functional nutrition in practice is that you open your eyes and ears to all possible root causes to any illness or disease. As a practitioner working with active clients, I would say that if you are aiming to lose weight, or working towards a body composition goal, then do not overlook the quantity and quality of sleep you are getting each night.
There is no denying that you need to start working on your diet and exercise routine, but do not underestimate the power of sleep when it comes to body composition. Here are some reasons why you need 7-to-8-hour sound sleep.
Numerous research studies demonstrate the impact of poor sleep on body composition. Three common reasons sighted are increased appetite, decreased energy expenditure and poor blood sugar regulation.
There are two major hormones that regulate your appetite. Leptin and Ghrelin. Leptin is produced by fat cells and sends a signal to the brain to stop eating, that you are full. Ghrelin is produced by the stomach and stimulates your appetite. Poor sleep drives up your ghrelin and decreases leptin, and the following day you tend to reach out for high carb, more trans fat containing reward foods which add extra calories due to poor food choices, at the same time you might be feeling tired from the lack of sleep and may decide to cut down or skip your exercise routine. A simple fix would be to hit the bed early and stop this vicious cycle.
On top of creating hunger and cravings, poor sleep also affects your metabolism. For some context, sleep can be divided into 2 general phases, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, NREM is further divided into 3 phases N1, N2 and N3. NREM and REM occur in cycles of 90 minutes throughout the night. The first half of the night is predominantly NREM and the second half REM.
Sleep decreases our metabolic rate by only about 15% during the night, this is to allow the body to repair tissue damage that occurred during waking hours. During latter part of the sleep, glucose and insulin levels fall in response to the tissue repair & rebuild, thus burning fat stores for energy. But if you are not sleeping well, the fat stores are not utilised for energy, net result being higher glucose and insulin in blood making it harder to lose belly fat and weight, as well as increasing the risk of diabetes.
For those of you who are working on improving muscle mass and body definition, poor sleep does not just affect muscle recovery but also has powerful catabolic effects. During a good night’s sleep, growth hormone is released, increasing protein synthesis which helps in muscle repair and growth. A common scenario I see in practice is the calorie restriction. Poor sleep and calorie restriction are a time bomb for increased hunger, body fat promotion and loss of lean mass. Good sleep contributes to maintenance of fat free body mass at times of decreased energy intake.
Higher levels of cortisol (stress hormone) and lower levels of HGH (human growth hormone and IGF-1 (Insulin growth factor-1) as seen in sleep deprivation not only reduces muscle building but also reduces fat burning. Testosterone, is important for gaining muscle as well as sex drive in both men and women, sleeping increases testosterone and vice versa.
Poor sleep is associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) and a higher risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture in individuals over 50 years and women.
Effects of poor quality and quantity of sleep in athletic performance has been reported in various studies on elite cyclists, volleyball players, runners, swimmers, football, basketball, tennis players, and a consistent message is that sleep affects performance outcomes that seem to impact explosive power, speed, response time, coordination, and time to exhaustion which can increase the risk of injury. Any type of injury or poor timing and performance knocks off confidence which could lead to poor eating habits, change in mood, leading to undoing the good work.
If you have health goals then look at all the aspects of optimising health, including healthy diet, exercise routine, and good sleep to increase your energy, performance, and body composition.
A good starting point would be to
Follow a sleep hygiene routine
Ease yourself into sleep by switching off electronic gadgets, instead take a book to bed
Dedicate 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night
If you suspect you have sleep disorder, contact your GP and seek advice
Include yoga nidra and meditation into your everyday routine
For some people supplements could also work – consult a nutritional therapy practitioner
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