Do you struggle to lose weight? It could be because of insomnia
What few people know is that this disorder increases the risk of obesity because it affects the metabolism.
To everybody has happened to go to bed at the end of a stressful day and have absolutely no sleep. Suffering from insomnia is not so nice, since you find yourself with eyes wide open during the night, thinking only and exclusively of the moment in which you will fall asleep, even if in the end you’ll spend hours and hours awake. What few people know is that this disorder increases the risk of obesity because it affects the metabolism.
A 2016 study conducted by Dr. Christian Benedict of the University of Uppsala, Sweden, proved it showing that it is precisely because of the increasingly widespread insomnia problems that people suffering from metabolic and food disorders have increased in recent years. Those who cannot sleep at night feel the need to consume more caloric foods and larger portions, they are more impulsive when it comes to food choices, they enjoy eating and they burn less energy.
The reason why such a thing happens is very simple: the lack of sleep modifies the behavior of the hormones that make you feel the sense of hunger or fullness, altering the functioning of the metabolism. As if this were not enough, not sleeping also reduces insulin sensitivity and other intestinal bacterial balance, which plays a fundamental role in the way food is disposed of. "My studies suggest that insomnia promotes weight gain in human beings. Improving sleep quality can have positive effects on lifestyle and reduce the risk of weight gain," explained Christian Benedict. The next research aims to understand if there is a method to restore a normal metabolism among those suffering from insomnia.
