Sleep hygiene is one of the most important pillars for health and to prevent the gain of body fat. Both overweight and obesity are public health problems because this excess weight, which is usually body fat, generates a lot of health costs because these people are much more likely to suffer from disorders and diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, etc.
In this article we are going to comment how lack of sleep affects to the different factors that can generate an increase in fat in the abdominal area.
Greater hedonism for food
In addition to eating by signals such as hunger as we know it, we also feel pleasure for foodespecially for the one that is ultra-processed since they are manufactured precisely to increase the signals in the center of pleasure.
In addition, we have a part of the brain, which is one of the last areas that we have developed as a human being, called the prefrontal cortex, which, in part, It is responsible for inhibiting the impulses of our brain.
When there is poor sleep hygiene, the ability of our prefrontal cortex to inhibit those impulses for ultra-processed food is less, which is why we increase, sometimes unconsciously, our caloric intake based on foods rich in fats and sugars.
Increased concentration of stress hormones
When we have poor quality sleep, the concentration of stress-related hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol increase.
It is not bad to have these hormones in high concentrations acutely as it helps the body to be stronger (what is known as supercompensation). The problem comes when these hormones are chronically increased, causing our ability to store fat in the abdomen area (since cortisol is a hormone that precisely causes more fat to be stored in that area) increase and that of synthesizing muscle proteins decreases.
In addition, commenting on what was said in the previous section, if we add a high concentration of stress hormones plus an increase in the consumption of processed foods, we have the perfect combo for our body fat to increase drastically.
Lower athletic performance
If we are sports people and we have also been practicing our sport for a long time, we will know our ability to generate force on a good day and on a bad day.
When we sleep badly we will see that we are not as capable of lifting a certain load or that we are not capable of running as fast and, on the other hand, we will not be well enough, at a physiological level, to tolerate such volume, so in a training , or several, we will not be able to tolerate neither the intensity nor the volume to which we are used to and, of course, we will recover much slower.
This makes the calories we burn are much lessmaking it much easier to store body fat.
less physical activity
Not all physical activity comes from physical exercise, but also from how much we move to go to work, take a walk around the city, etc. Sleeping and resting poorly makes our desire to walk, ride a bike to places, etc., decrease, so the number of calories we burn through physical activity also decreases.
As we can see, poor sleep makes us eat more calories (in addition to processed products), we have less capacity to burn calories through activity and physical exercise and, in addition, we have an ideal hormonal environment so that fat is stored mainly in the abdomen and our muscle protein synthesis decreases.
Strategies for better sleep
There are many strategies that can be used to increase our sleep and, among all of them, we find the following:
- Reduce screens before bed: Blue light from screens has been shown to delay the circadian cycle. Even the smallest devices such as mobile phones, tablets, etc., emit enough light to alter our circadian rhythms.
- Room temperature: It seems that the ideal temperature for sleeping is between 15-20ºC. It has been seen that temperatures above or below this temperature range hinder the number of hours we can sleep and the quality of sleep.
- Do not consume stimulants shortly before bed: Consuming caffeine, theine and other stimulants can reduce the ability to rest because it keeps the central nervous system activated. Thus, It is recommended not to consume them later than 6:00 p.m.
- Feeding before sleeping: There are people who are not able to rest properly if they have some food in their stomach. Nonetheless, insulin inhibits the central nervous systemso having a dinner with an adequate carbohydrate intake, could help improve sleep quality.
In Vitónica | Five exercises with elastic bands for firm and strong glutes
In Vitónica | These are the best foods to get your daily dose of vitamin D through diet
Images | istock