Can Not Enough Sleep Make You Fat and Sick?

Can Not Enough Sleep Make You Fat and Sick?

Is Not Enough Sleep Making You Fat?

Sleep is one of the best things that you can do for yourself from a self-care perspective but it’s also one of the areas that is most likely to be neglected.

The recommended amount of shut eye is eight hours a night (preferably more!), but lots of us are falling far short of this and it’s having a massive impact on almost every aspect of wellbeing, from health to weight. You can live healthy in every other area of your life and eat fantastic foods, but unfortunately, it’s probably not going to do much to counteract the damaging effects of poor sleep habits.

Here’s a look at why getting enough sleep is so crucial for your health and wellbeing, and why diet alone can’t undo the effects of not sleeping well.

Sleep Duration Versus Sleep Quality

We’re always being told how many hours we should be sleeping each night but is it definitely enough even if we can manage to achieve it?

Sleep quality refers to how well we sleep and is a completely different prospect to how long we sleep. It’s pretty easy to tell how long you sleep but the quality of it is a bit harder to determine.

Poor sleep quality means that you’re not sleeping in line with your circadian rhythm or going through all of the important sleep phases (particularly with REM sleep).

Some of the signs that your sleep quality isn’t as good as it could be include:

  • Waking up during the night
  • Not waking up naturally e.g. you have to be abruptly awoken by your alarm clock most mornings
  • Keeping track on a FitBit will give you all of these insights at your fingertips!

Sleep and Health

What exactly does your body experience when you don’t get enough sleep? Pretty much everything is affected but here are some of the more serious effects that poor
sleep patterns can have on your health:

  • Lower immunity. If you seem to get every cough and cold going, your sleep habits may be to blame. In one study, researchers deliberately exposed people to the common cold virus to see how likely they were to go onto develop a cold. Participants who had been sleeping for less than 7 hours per night had lower immunity and were almost 3 times more likely to be impacted. Even a small sleep debt has been linked to lower immunity.
  • Higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Studies have looked at the link between lack of sleep and developing heart disease and stroke and it’s a scary connection. Getting less than 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night means a higher chance of developing Coronary Heart Disease or having a stroke – and dying from it.
  • Higher risk of diabetes. A sleep debt can pave the way for developing Type 2 diabetes. In this study, just a week of not sleeping well reduced insulin sensitivity and raised concerns about whether consistently sleeping badly might open the door to developing health issues linked to insulin resistance.
  • Increased inflammation. Inflammation is now linked to lots of different health problems and can be increased sleep loss.

Sleep and Cognition

You’ve no doubt heard that eating the right foods can boost your brain health but it’s not just diet can affect your memory and concentration.

Sleep is an important factor too, and lack of sleep has been shown to impair them. In fact, one study has suggested that even moderate sleep issues can be as damaging as alcohol in affecting performance!

The deeper stages of sleep are particularly vital when it comes to clear thinking, focus, memory and learning. This is when your brain does a lot of its mental ‘sorting’, such as filtering out information that isn’t really needed right now. It doesn’t sound a lot but it all adds up to better cognition and performance.

Sleep and Weight Gain

If you don’t sleep well, it can be a lot harder to maintain a healthy weight. The main problem? It sends your metabolism a little bit crazy and can ruin your good intentions for eating well.

Lack of sleep has a big effect on hormones that are linked to appetite – namely leptin and ghrelin. Leptin helps to keep your appetite in check while ghrelin does the opposite.

Ideally, you want to have more leptin and less ghrelin but not getting enough sleep throws this balance out and effectively switches them around. This means you’re a lot more likely to overeat, even when you’re technically full. And you’ll find it harder to shift stubborn fat on your stomach, as sleep deprivation encourages fat to build up in this area in particular.

Improving Your Sleep Quality

Some of the things you can do to try to get better quality sleep each night include:

  • Making your room as dark as possible to support your circadian rhythm. Pitch black (or as close to it as you can get) is best.
  • Setting a bedtime routine that involves going to bed at the same time every night and getting up at a specific time each morning.
  • Switching off electronic devices at least an hour before bed (even your phone!) to reduce the amount of ‘blue light’ you’re exposed to just before bedtime. This ‘blue light’ means your body finds it harder to produce enough of the sleep hormone, melatonin, to help you sleep well.

If you haven’t been seeing sleep as a key part of your wellness routine, it’s definitely time to change that! How well do you sleep?

References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19139325
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8621064
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21300732
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20585000
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3548567/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10984335
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15602591

In Health & Happiness
Dr. Tara Clapp, ND
Dr. Tara Clapp, ND

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND

Naturopathic Doctor Focusing on Anti-aging and Hormone Optimization

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND is a Board-certified Naturopathic Doctor and leading authority on Anti-Aging & Bio-Identical Hormones. Dr. Clapp, ND has taken numerous courses to advance her knowledge and has received certifications in Intravenous Nutrient Therapy, Mesotherapy & Injection Therapy for Anti-Aging  & Pain Management, as well as First Line Therapy Weight Management.

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND uses specialized, leading-edge laboratory testing for better diagnostics & health.  Dr. Tara Clapp, ND has special interests in anti-aging, bio-identical hormone therapy, food and nutrition,  metabolic and hormone imbalances and digestive disorders.

Being a naturopathic doctor has proven to be an especially rewarding experience to Dr. Tara Clapp, ND as it allows her to take part in people’s transformation and realization of their health potential. Consequently, Dr. Tara Clapp, ND continually updates her skills through new courses and conferences, and uses this information to better her clients.

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND is  a dedicated and caring physician, taking personal interest in her clients’ health and life.

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND has a passion for self-development programs that push her beyond regular physical and mental performance.  Dr. Tara Clapp, ND enjoys practicing yoga and meditation, has a love of photography, and relaxes by scrapbooking and enjoying long walks with her dog.

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I focus on anti-aging and hormone optimization.

As a naturopathic doctor, I help women achieve radiant skin, maintain an active lifestyle and have lots of energy to do what they want. But what I’m really passionate about is teaching women how to harness the power of nature to change their biology, hormones, and genetic expression so they can live happier and healthier lives and achieve their vision of their best self!

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Sourdough Bread and Blood Sugar Management

Sourdough Bread and Blood Sugar Management

Sourdough Bread and Blood Sugar Management

Have you been encouraged to stop eating carbohydrates? Do you think it will help you lose weight or worse, have you been convinced that carbohydrates, especially grains, are bad for you? It is a shame that such misinformation circulates and so many people are confused about this important food group but it just shows that we need to apply some common sense before we remove foods groups from our diet.

But what if you have a digestion issue with grains, does that mean for sure, you should avoid them? No. Before you remove anything, try sourdough. What is sourdough? A traditional method of fermenting grains to make bread. It has many benefits and is much more digestible.

Fermenting grains creates prebiotic substances from the starches in the flour to aid gut health so sourdough is a great food for feeding the good bacteria. The current research has been done with sourdough made from white flour. The fermentation process also makes nutrients more available. However, a cool thing about the process of making sourdough is that it also adds B-vitamins that were not there before the fermentation occurred!

This makes sense since sourdough is a combination of good bacteria and yeast There is 100 times more beneficial bacteria than yeast as it happens, but wild yeast strains are definitely present since this is what makes the bread rise to give it an amazing, light-texture. And yeast is a great source of B-vitamins.

The acid nature, the “sour” of sourdough, aids in pre-digestion of the protein molecules in the grain especially the gliadin in gluten, as protease enzymes prefer an acid pH for optimal function. As a matter of fact, researchers are studying sourdough for safe consumption by individuals suffering from celiac disease.

The gluten must be completely degraded in order for a celiac individual to tolerate it, and this would make it quite sour tasting. Some experiments involved using fully-degraded sourdough mixed with fresh gluten-free grains added after fermentation to lessen the sour taste and these breads were also suitable for people with Celiac disease.

But probably the most amazing research comes from the University of Guelph, monitoring blood sugar levels after eating bread.  Researchers took four samples of bread: regular white flour bread, whole wheat bread, whole wheat with barley bread and white flour sourdough bread. The participants in this study were all between the ages of 50 to 60 and were all overweight. They were fed the breads at breakfast and then again at lunch.

After both meals, blood sugar and insulin levels were measured. The sourdough provided the lowest level of blood sugar and insulin, and surprisingly, continued to keep the blood and insulin levels low for the following meal where no bread was consumed. The whole wheat, on the other hand, provided the highest level of blood sugar after a meal, even higher than the regular white flour bread!  This is a welcome relief for those individuals that either need to lose weight or are diabetic (or both!) and don’t want to have to give up bread!

If you want to try sourdough, look for bakers in your area who are making traditional sourdough bread. This is a delicious adventure for you take.  A quick google search of “sourdough” and the name of the city or town where you live could make it easier to find someone local.

And if you cannot find a source in your area, you can order it online and have it shipped to you.

When you do find a source, cut yourself a slice, drizzle it with some virgin olive oil or cultured butter. Enjoy!

 

References
1Sourdough and cereal fermentation in a nutritional perspective, Kaisa Poutanen a,b,*, Laura Flander a, Kati Katina a, Food Microbiology 26 (2009) 693–699

2Structural changes of gliadins during sourdough fermentation Gokcen Komen, Ayse Handan Baysal, Sebnem Harsa, Izmir Institute of Technology, Izmir, Turkey

3http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/07/sourdough_bread.html

4Glycosidases and B group vitamins produced by six yeast strains from the digestive tract of Phoracantha semipunctata larvae and their role in the insect development, C. Chararas et al, Mycopathologia 1983, Volume 83, Issue 1, pp 9-15

5Sourdough Bread Made from Wheat and Nontoxic Flours and Started with Selected Lactobacilli Is Tolerated in Celiac Sprue Patients, Raffaella Di Cagno1,†, et al, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. February 2004   vol. 70  no. 2  1088-1096

In Health & Happiness
Dr. Tara Clapp, ND
Dr. Tara Clapp, ND

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND

Naturopathic Doctor Focusing on Anti-aging and Hormone Optimization

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND is a Board-certified Naturopathic Doctor and leading authority on Anti-Aging & Bio-Identical Hormones. Dr. Clapp, ND has taken numerous courses to advance her knowledge and has received certifications in Intravenous Nutrient Therapy, Mesotherapy & Injection Therapy for Anti-Aging  & Pain Management, as well as First Line Therapy Weight Management.

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND uses specialized, leading-edge laboratory testing for better diagnostics & health.  Dr. Tara Clapp, ND has special interests in anti-aging, bio-identical hormone therapy, food and nutrition,  metabolic and hormone imbalances and digestive disorders.

Being a naturopathic doctor has proven to be an especially rewarding experience to Dr. Tara Clapp, ND as it allows her to take part in people’s transformation and realization of their health potential. Consequently, Dr. Tara Clapp, ND continually updates her skills through new courses and conferences, and uses this information to better her clients.

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND is  a dedicated and caring physician, taking personal interest in her clients’ health and life.

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND has a passion for self-development programs that push her beyond regular physical and mental performance.  Dr. Tara Clapp, ND enjoys practicing yoga and meditation, has a love of photography, and relaxes by scrapbooking and enjoying long walks with her dog.

Categories

Dr. Tara Clapp, ND - Anti-aging and Hormone Optimization

Hi! I’m Dr. Tara Clapp, ND

I focus on anti-aging and hormone optimization.

As a naturopathic doctor, I help women achieve radiant skin, maintain an active lifestyle and have lots of energy to do what they want. But what I’m really passionate about is teaching women how to harness the power of nature to change their biology, hormones, and genetic expression so they can live happier and healthier lives and achieve their vision of their best self!

KickAss Keto Diet Program by Dr. Tara Clapp, ND
Renew You Detox Course by Dr. Tara Clapp, ND - Start Now! Detox from home in 10 days for only $47
28 Day Healthy Habits Online Course by Dr. Tara Clapp, ND

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