{"id":24293,"date":"2023-10-09T07:57:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T07:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/longevity-news\/does-insomnia-make-you-gain-weight\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T07:57:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T07:57:35","slug":"does-insomnia-make-you-gain-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/en\/longevity-news\/does-insomnia-make-you-gain-weight\/","title":{"rendered":"Does insomnia make you gain weight?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The fact that the right amount of time and good quality <strong>rest<\/strong> are important to <strong>staying well<\/strong> is self-evident. We notice it right away if, while traveling, we change time zones, or even simply if, perhaps on New Year&#8217;s Eve we <em>stay up all night<\/em>. A <strong>lack of mental clarity<\/strong> and concentration, <strong>irritability<\/strong>, decreased ability to learn and retain information all await us. The consequences of sporadic <strong>sleep deprivation<\/strong> are temporary, and usually a good night&#8217;s sleep or small steps to resynchronize our <strong>circadian rhythm<\/strong> can be enough to get us back in shape. However, when we are faced with <strong>sleep disorders<\/strong> that continue over a long period of time, the health consequences can be far more serious and even unexpected. One example? <strong>Weight gain<\/strong>. Here&#8217;s why.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the circadian rhythm and what does it have to do with sleep?<\/h3>\n<p>Let&#8217;s back up a step. The <strong>sleep-wake cycle<\/strong> is controlled by our <strong>circadian rhythm<\/strong>, which is a mechanism that uses hormones to maintain the body&#8217;s balance by adapting to external and internal stimuli. We can imagine it as a clock that is located in the brain (specifically in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus) and is responsible for <strong>synchronizing other peripheral clocks<\/strong> located at the level of organs and tissues and that control cellular processes, physiological functions, and behaviors over a 24-hour period.<\/p>\n<h3>What are the effects of sleeping poorly?<\/h3>\n<p>The sleep-wake cycle is one of these peripheral clocks, and the moment it loses synchrony with the others, <strong>repercussions<\/strong> can occur on several <strong>hormonal axes<\/strong>, including those that control <strong>appetite<\/strong> and <strong>fat and sugar metabolism<\/strong>. For example, some studies indicate that sleeping less than six hours a night alters the functioning of the <strong>thyroid<\/strong> gland (a gland located in the neck, in front of the trachea) and the production of <strong>cortisol<\/strong>, the stress hormone. Additionally, it can cause changes to the concentrations of <strong>leptin<\/strong> and <strong>ghrelin<\/strong>, the hormones that directly control appetite.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The circadian rhythm regulates biochemical reactions according to a day-night cycle, which is useful in anticipating our body&#8217;s functional needs, thereby increasing its efficiency<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>What regulates hunger?<\/h3>\n<p>Appetite is regulated by several processes, including the relationship between two hormones called leptin and ghrelin. <strong>Leptin<\/strong> is produced by the stomach and adipose tissue and indicates high energy levels in the body. It is called an <strong>anorectic<\/strong> because, in order to drive energy consumption, it <strong>suppresses appetite<\/strong> at the level of the central nervous system. <strong>Ghrelin<\/strong> is its opposite. Also synthesized in the stomach, ghrelin has the opposite effect of leptin on the brain, that is, it <strong>stimulates the sense of hunger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>What are the consequences of insomnia?<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Chronic sleep deprivation<\/strong> results in alterations in the equilibrium between leptin and ghrelin. More specifically, <strong>ghrelin production increases<\/strong>, while <strong>leptin production decreases<\/strong>. As a result, <strong>you feel hungrier<\/strong> and, when you eat, <strong>you take longer to feel full<\/strong>. Sleeping little and feeling hungry increases the occasions for <strong>late-night snacks<\/strong>, with a preference &#8211; it seems &#8211; for high-calorie foods such as cookies and chips. As a result, you tend to eat <strong>too many calories<\/strong> and <strong>gain weight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, that&#8217;s not all. According to a study published in the journal <em>Nature<\/em> in 2019, an altered sleep-wake cycle negatively affects the <strong>immune system<\/strong> in the gut and predisposes to the onset of <strong>inflammatory diseases<\/strong>. It also impairs the control of <strong>blood sugar levels<\/strong> (glycemia)-a phenomenon that can become the prelude to <strong>metabolic syndrome<\/strong> and <strong>type 2 diabetes<\/strong> if not remedied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Changes to the sleep-wake cycle can alter hormonal control over appetite and satiety, contributing to weight gain and increasing the risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":24148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[159,169,170],"class_list":["post-24293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-longevity-science-en","tag-nutrition","tag-prevention"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Does insomnia make you gain weight? 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