Although exercise and nutrition are the first things that come to mind when it comes to weight loss, regular sleep is an important factor for us in addition to these two factors.
Although 7-8 hours of sleep is sufficient for adults, it is less than 4 hours and less than 9 hours. It is not considered normal to have more than one hour of sleep time.
In this article, we talked about the effect of sleep on stress, weight loss and physical activity, and what we can do about it.
Irregular DOES SLEEP PREVENT YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT?
Melatonin hormone is synthesized in parallel with light. Melatonin hormone usually begins to be secreted between 21.00-22.00 in the evening, reaches its highest level between 02.00-04.00 hours, and begins to decrease in the morning hours.
Melatonin improves sleep quality; It exhibits immunomodulatory, memory-improving effects and also participates in functions such as lipid glucose metabolism. Irregular sleep affects our hormones and cognitive functions, causing direct and indirect effects in the weight loss process.
What is the effect of going to bed late and getting up early on weight loss?
Short Sleep time causes an increase in appetite with low leptin (satiety hormone) and high ghrelin (hunger hormone). This causes us to feel more tired during the day and to consume more calories. In addition, it can cause the feeling of tiredness to be confused with the feeling of hunger during the day.
Sleeping up late and staying awake for too long can cause overeating and less physical activity. This is one of the factors that affect our weight loss.
Does sleeping late at night and getting up late cause us to eat more?
With the darkening of the air, the hormone melatonin, the hormone of happiness, is synthesized. Therefore, the hormone serotonin begins to decrease and we tend to eat more foods such as chocolate, fast food and sweets that give us more happiness at night.
With the secretion of the hormone melatonin, body temperature begins to increase. Our metabolism starts to slow down and the body takes a rest. This causes us to store what we eat before going to bed as fat.
IS SLEEP AND STRESS RELATED, WHAT IS THE EFFECT ON WEIGHT LOSS?
Me The hormone latonin and cortisol work in the opposite way. In this case, cortisol begins to decrease at night, while melatonin reaches its maximum level a few hours after cortisol drops. In addition, we try to wake up consciously by consuming beverages such as coffee and tea that contain caffeine with the feeling of tiredness caused by little sleep. As this situation triggers the stress hormone, we may feel more stressed during the day. As a way of coping with stress, we may tend to eat more.
Fatigue and stress caused by insomnia can affect our diet and prevent us from losing weight.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND FOODS
We talked about the importance of sleep and its effect on health and weight loss.
If you are having difficulty sleeping, you can You can create your sleep pattern by following the suggestions.
What are the foods that cause us to fall asleep easily?
Foods rich in tryptophan, the precursor of melatonin and serotonin hormones, make it easier for us to fall asleep faster . For example, yogurt, milk, kefir, eggs, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts are rich in tryptophan.
Kiwi and cherry, which are sources of melatonin, also make it easier for us to fall asleep.
In the study; Including foods rich in tryptophan content in your breakfast shows that it increases your nighttime sleep quality due to the effect of melatonin hormone.
Rich in magnesium; You can choose foods such as dark green leafy vegetables such as pumpkin seeds, spinach, broccoli, almonds, oatmeal, and bananas.
Making your last snack before going to bed from tryptophan, magnesium or melatonin sources makes it easier to fall asleep. For example, 2-3 hours before going to bed, you can go to sleep more easily by consuming kefir and banana or warm milk and raw nuts.
What are the foods that make it difficult for us to fall asleep?
Caffeine-containing foods such as coffee, tea, and chocolate should not be consumed close to bedtime as they have a stimulating effect. .
The nicotine in cigarettes has a stimulating effect like caffeine. Therefore, smoking just before going to bed can make it difficult to fall asleep. Preferring foods that are high, that will disturb our stomach or that are difficult to digest can force our digestive system and cause a feeling of discomfort. The feeling of discomfort can make it difficult to fall asleep. You can choose your preference for lighter, easy-to-digest foods.
Foods with high fat content should be consumed carefully at our last meal, as they leave the stomach late and affect our sleep quality. It has been shown that the fatty foods we consume at dinner can cause a short night's sleep and a decrease in sleep quality.
In addition to all these, when choosing carbohydrates in meals, choosing foods such as yogurt, meat and chicken that contain protein instead of only pasta and rice will prevent your blood sugar fluctuation and prevent you from getting hungry more quickly. This makes it easier for you to lose weight.
In addition, foods with low glycemic index are digested more slowly, thus prolonging the time of satiety. For example, you can choose bulgur pilaf instead of rice and whole wheat bread instead of white bread.
Researchers have shown that when we include more foods with high glycemic index in our diet, it will cause a decrease in sleep duration and quality. They stated that the type of carbohydrate we consume affects sleep quality more than the amount.
Sleep quality and vitamin and mineral relations
If you follow all the suggestions and you still have problems at sleep point For this, we recommend that you have your blood tests done. You can use the necessary supplements under the control of your doctor.
In the studies carried out;
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Inadequacy of vitamin D and B vitamins, as well as magnesium, iron, selenium, deficiencies are shorter u It has been shown that it affects sleep duration and sleep quality.
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It has been stated that malnutrition from vitamin C and calcium is associated with difficulty in falling asleep and insufficient deep sleep time.
CONCLUSION:
Sleep, nutrition and physical activity as a whole are important for both weight loss and our health.
Creating our sleep patterns helps us cope with both stress and fatigue, as well as supporting us to lose weight by eating more controlled.
For a good sleep that supports weight loss;
We can prefer soothing herbal teas such as lemon balm, chamomile and lavender instead of foods such as coffee, tea and chocolate containing caffeine.
Be careful not to consume cigarettes and alcohol, especially before going to bed, since cigarettes and alcohol impair sleep quality.
Before going to bed, let's make sure the room light is dimmer to support the release of melatonin, and if possible, sleep in a completely dark room.
After 22:00 in the evening, you can be careful not to look at the blue screen such as television, phone, tablet and computer.
Using your bed only for sleeping allows your brain to associate the bed only with sleeping.
Before going to bed, we should be careful not to choose foods with lots of spices and sauces, as they will disturb our stomach.
Especially in the last meal, let's pay attention to the amount of consumption of foods with high fat content since they leave our stomach late.
The last snack, 3 hours before bedtime, is rich in sources of melatonin such as milk and nuts, or rich in magnesium and tryptophan.
Finally, we should take care to ensure that our daily sleep time is between 6-9 hours and to get ready for bed after 22:00 in the evening.
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