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How does sleep deprivation affect your weight

Studies from previous years have been linking sleep with weight gain. Although it has not been clarified whether putting on extra weight causes sleep problems or if it's the opposite, these studies have shown that having very little or too much sleep definitely has an effect on how much weight you put on or lose.

One study observed participants over a 6-year period and found that those who got less than 6 hours of sleep were likely to add on extra pounds. The same thing has been noted with people who have had extended hours of sleep.

Although it's still unclear how having extended hours of sleep can pull your weight up, it is understandable how people with very little sleep could gain weight. For one, sleep-deprived individuals often find themselves lacking the energy to do exercise. Another reason is the fact that sleep deprivation slows down the body's basal metabolic rate or the rate the body processes and burns calories while resting. This means, with less calories being used up, it gets stored as body fat.

Also, when one sleeps less, the body experiences hormonal changes such as a decrease in leptin levels in the blood.  Leptin is primarily responsible for regulating a person's appetite. With this hormone at very low levels, a person will have a difficult time controlling their food intake, oftentimes leading to episodes of overeating. For most people, eating a lot serves as their alternative to sleep.

Sleep deprivation is one of the major factors being linked to obesity and diabetes because it interferes with the body's ability to process carbohydrates, thereby increasing blood-sugar levels. This will, in turn, pull the insulin-level up and make the body store more fat.

Aside from the above mentioned reasons, having very little sleep can reduce growth hormone levels that regulate the proportion of fat and muscle in the body. It can also lead to insulin resistance and increase your chances of developing diabetes.

Know that by neglecting the only time your body gets to rest and repair it, you increase your chances of gaining weight and developing one of the most difficult diseases to have – diabetes. So remember to always get at around seven to eight hours of sleep to keep the pounds off and keep yourself healthy.