Insomnia and Excess Weight

In recent years, more and more scientists have proven that insomnia affects weight gain.

We already started a conversation about insomnia – where it comes from and how to combat it. Today we will talk about the impact of insomnia on excess weight.

Finnish scientists have calculated the ideal duration of sleep through experiments. Volunteers of different genders and ages participated in the studies. As a result, it was found that the best sleep time for women is 7 hours and 38 minutes, while for men it is 7 hours and 42 minutes. The maximum and minimum sleep durations were also determined – 5 and 10 hours, respectively. However, it is important to remember that every individual is unique, and each requires a different amount of sleep. Nevertheless, lack of sleep or long “oversleeping” increases the risk of developing certain diseases. This particularly pertains to the connection between insomnia and excess weight.

To feel good and maintain health, it is necessary to get enough sleep. If you are watching your weight or on a diet, then you should not expect success without normal, full sleep. After all, it is during nighttime that our body initiates processes aimed at maintaining hormonal balance. This means that at night, melatonin, dopamine, and serotonin are actively produced – these are hormones that aid in weight loss. At the same time, the concentration of cortisol decreases – the hormone that burns protein and causes fat deposition.

With insufficient sleep, the ratio of the hunger hormone ghrelin – which stimulates appetite – and leptin is disrupted, which can lead to overeating. But the most dangerous consequence is the increase in blood sugar levels and the heightened activity of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in increased blood pressure and the onset of cardiovascular diseases.

With a slowed metabolism, the body burns significantly fewer calories than needed. Thus, the less a person sleeps, the more high-calorie food they consume – lack of sleep increases appetite, and the brain tries to replenish energy reserves with a larger number of calories. A sleep-deprived person feels tired and lacks the necessary amount of energy. They will try to derive that missing energy from high-calorie foods, which over time turn into excess fat.

Excess weight with insomnia accumulates simply: you didn’t sleep enough, you start drinking a lot of coffee, and with coffee, you have a chocolate bar or a bun. At work, there’s often not enough time for a proper lunch, leading to snacks or unhealthy fast food instead. After the workday, you have no energy left for gym sessions to burn off extra calories. Instead of going to the gym, you head home and have a hearty dinner, often with high-calorie food. This creates a standard situation that negatively impacts your figure.

The modern person has many different tasks and finds it difficult to find time to solve them. Besides work, there are family responsibilities, meetings with friends and relatives, hobbies, and sports. As a result, when going to bed, it can sometimes be very hard to turn off the brain from everyday worries, leaving little time for proper sleep. But it is always important to remember that lack of sleep, besides excess weight, poses more serious health problems. It’s essential to plan your time wisely, know how to disconnect from worries in a timely manner, and, in case of prolonged and persistent insomnia, urgently see a doctor!

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