Alternative Health Blog

While America focuses on the right diet for weight loss—a pattern that has a least a century of history—a new study from UCLA researchers suggests that maybe getting enough sleep is just as important as determining the right amount of fats, carbohydrates and protein to balance out in your daily meals and snacks 

Here’s why: The body has two primary hormones that regulate hunger and appetite in the body. Not enough sleep and suffering from insomnia wreaks havoc with at least one of those hormones and makes it hard for the body to determine when it’s full. That’s not good if you are trying to regulate the number of calories you consume each day.

In a groundbreaking study, the UCLA scientists evaluated the overnight levels of ghrelin and leptin in the body. Ghrelin is secreted in the stomach and works as an appetite stimulant by naturally increasing before meals. Leptin is the other hormone studied in the UCLA researchers. It is manufactured by fat cells to signal the brain about whether there is calorie shortage or satiety in the body. Insomnia sufferers in the study experienced 30 percent lower levels of ghrelin when compared to healthy sleepers.

While lower levels of ghrelin might indicate that your appetite is suppressed, what the earlier research shows is that decreased ghrelin levels at night actually can cause a spike in the appetite hormone during waking hours—when you are up and ready to eat. What’s more, this waking spike of ghrelin appears to be accompanied by decreased leptin, which the UCLA scientists described as a “double whammy” that stimulates appetite and overeating. 

"This is an exciting finding because it highlights how diverse behaviors like sleep and eating are connected,” wrote the researchers in the study that is already published online and will be in print during May. “We are just beginning to explore the possible consequences of these connections, but it is another example of the importance of a good night's sleep for the body."

The bottom line is whether we eat right or exercise regularly or both, staying up too late or disrespecting our sleep can sabotage those efforts. All of us can benefit from getting enough sleep, especially if losing a few pounds is the goal.

For anyone looking to lose the last five to 10 pounds, a purposeful sleep strategy might be just the move to accomplish that goal. It’s easy to talk about getting a good night’s sleep and, with Internet browsing, kids who don’t sleep through the night, partners who don’t sleep well, demanding work schedules and you name it, it can be hard. The best approach for getting a better night’s sleep is actually in the time you awake. Sleep researchers consistently recommend the best way to encourage better nighttime rest is to wake up at the same time every day, weekends included.

Maybe that sounds unappealing but if weight loss is your target, then waking up at the same time every day is your bull’s eye.

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.