Snooze you lose!
Sleep. Underrated and often overlooked when it comes to matters of our health. Good health is hard to achieve without good sleep, period. Disease, mood, focus, and performance are all directly related to the quality of your sleep, and, believe it or not, your sleep habits can also affect your ability to lose weight.
Snooze you lose…true story. The more you sleep, and the better quality your sleep is, the better your fat burning hormones will work. Cortisol, a stress hormone that kicks in to keep you going when you don’t go to bed, increases insulin sensitivity and signals the body to store fat, making it difficult for you to lose weight.
Here are a few facts regarding lack of sleep….
- Just one week of short sleep (5 hrs) drops testosterone 10-15%
- Accelerates aging
- Disrupts hormonal balance
- Increases risk of insulin resistance
- Lowers IQ
- Promotes Cravings
- Stimulates appetite
- Increases belly fat
- Increases fat loss resistance
How is your sleep? Do you require a medication, alcohol, or sleep aid that helps you to sleep? If so, your sleep is compromised.
Healthy sleep habits involve falling asleep naturally, staying asleep, and waking naturally. Many people do not sleep well in part due to lack of proper nutrition.
Sleep involves a whole system of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters that are fueled by nutrients from the diet such as amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. Consuming good quality organic lean animal protein, loads of leafy greens and brightly colored veggies, fish, eggs, healthy fats from fish and coconut, etc. can help. However, many people are very low on these important brain nutrients, and need to boost them through supplementation. It’s a much more natural way to support sleep, non-addictive, and healthier because it is how your sleep system is designed to work.
You can learn more about healthy sleep by visiting my facebook page at www.facebook.com/muffintopmakeover
Sleep well!
