Research shows that the lack of sleep leads to gradual obesity. The less people sleep, the more likely they are to gain weight, as the lack of sleep triggers hormone imbalances that boost the desire to eat.
The National Sleep Foundation reports that most sleep specialists recommend between 7 and 8 hours of sleep. Without the right amount of sleep the brain reacts by stimulating the hypocretin/orexin cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain. These centers regulate our food intake and are the reason we have this reaction in our body. These hormones are stimulated with anxiety and stress. Since these particular brain cells are particularly vulnerable to over-stimulation and lack the ability of most other neurons to filter out signals from other regions of the brain that aren’t meant for them.
As people age, then tend to have more trouble sleeping, yet they still need the same amount of sleep. The reason they have trouble sleeping varies but it can be due to less exercise, stress or hormone levels. Lack of proper sleep can lead to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The loss of sleep disrupts hormones and proteins, which in turn affects melatonin. The decrease in melatonin is something that contributes to your risk of many diseases.
Even mild sleep deprivation can active the ghrelin and leptin hormones and lead to diabetes. This leads to the problems in blood sugar regulation.
Sleep disturbed by snoring is a major factor in obesity. The lack of proper sleep for the snorer as well as the others in the same room or house, can have a huge affect on weight. Second hand snoring noise is very dangerous. On average, the person being woken by a snorer is aroused from the noise 22 times. This leads to poor sleep and weight gain for both partners.
There are ways to relieve these sleeping problems. Common relief is brought on by sleeping in the right position, sleeping with a pillow that is hypo allergenic and using a snore reduction pillow that helps you stay in the right position. There are many snore reduction pillows available that are recommended by medical doctors. It is a non evasive way to stop this problem. Snorers tend to be over weight because of the disruption of sleep during the night. It should not be taken lightly.