Most of us have experienced times when our sleep becomes erratic or we have trouble sleeping. For parents, there is the exhausting sleep deprivation that comes with a new child. Or perhaps you are a shift worker or student studying late into the night.
DOES MY SLEEP CAUSE ME TO PUT ON WEIGHT
What you probably don’t realise, is that your sleep has an enormous effect on you – both physically and mentally. According to the research, sleep deprivation will increase both your BMI and waistline.
Body Mass Index (BMI) varies as a result of sleep, according to a research abstract. Results indicate that twins who slept between 7 and 8.9 hours each night had a lower BMI (25.0 kg/m2) compared to those who slept more (25.2 kg/m2) or less (26.4 kg/m2) per night. The relationship between sleep duration and BMI remained after controlling for genetics and shared environment.
According to the lead author of the story, Nathaniel Watson, MD, co-director at the University of Washington Sleep Institute, in Seattle, sleep habits have a significant impact on weight and BMI.
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?
“Findings of the study point towards an environmental cause of the relationship between sleep duration and BMI,” said Watson. “Results were robust enough to be present when the sample was limited to identical twins.”
The study included data from 1,797 twins, including 634 twin pairs (437 monozygotic, 150 dizygotic and 47 indeterminate pairs) and 529 individual twins with a mean age of 36.8. Habitual sleep duration was obtained by self-reported length of sleep per night and BMI was calculated by self-reported height and weight. Of the sample, 68.3% were female and 88.2% were Caucasian.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, previous studies have also found that adults who have a sleep duration that deviates from the recommended 7 to 8 hours a night are at elevated risk for serious health conditions.
A SOLUTION FOR BOTH SLEEP & WEIGHT
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