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Getting Enough Sleep at Night May Just Help You Lose Weight
Eating the right foods and exercising regularly have been the hallmark of most weight management programs for the last 50 years. We are learning more and more about how other lifestyle factors affect weight such as stress, hormones, and other emotional triggers. Now it appears we can add sleep to the growing list of lifestyle factors that affect our weight. A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggest that getting enough sleep may help with your weight loss efforts. The study found that sleep deprived volunteers (4 hours per night) had a 28% increase in a hormone called grehlin, which is an appetite stimulant. They also found an 18% decrease in leptin, a hormone that acts as an appetite suppressant, and 23% increase in overall appetite. To make matters worse the participants had an increase appetite specifically for calorie dense foods including sweets, salty and starchy foods. Although this was a small study, which will need more follow up; it is not the first to suggest how sleep affects weight. A 1999 University of Chicago study showed that sleep loss could affect the way we metabolize carbohydrates resulting in glucose intolerance and possibly leading to increased hunger and a slowed metabolism. It is also important to note that over the past 40 years, self-reported sleep duration in the U.S. has decreased by almost 2 hours according to Karine Spiegel, PhD and colleagues from University of Chicago in Illinois and overweight and obesity have been on the rise. More studies are needed to show that these results are reproducible and to demonstrate a cause and effect relationship. However, getting a good night sleep is good advice either way. There is no doubt about it that a lack of sleep interferes with our energy levels during the day and can cause us to skip our exercise routine because we are far too tired. How often has lack of sleep interfered with your activity level? This alone is good enough reason to add a good night's sleep (8-9 hours) to your weight management plan. © Meri Raffetto, 2005 Meri Raffetto is a Registered Dietitian and a recognized professional in the area of nutrition and wellness. She is the owner of Real Living Nutrition Services providing interactive online weight management programs. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter to receive nutrition tips, healthy recipes, and more at http://www.reallivingnutrition.com.
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Make Your Own HGH - While You Sleep!
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) has long been viewed as a remedy for aging and the diseases associated with the aging process. Research published in the AMA Journal of August 16, 2000 links sleep disorders to a lack of HGH.
What Happens While We Sleep: A Spiritual Perspective
The body is a miracle of organization and intelligence in which life is continually renewed and energy continually replenished so that the total organism can continue to live. Sleeping involves part of this renewal, and is a process through which the higher vibrations of light are permitted greater access to the physical body because the emotional and mental components of personality that are often limiting factors in the awake state are no longer present while one sleeps. Although dreaming produces mental and emotional content and therefore creates emotional states, the content of these is part of the sleep state itself and not a barrier to the energies that would restore, heal, and rejuvenate.
Sleep, Thoughts, Worries, and Fears
Do you fall asleep immediately after entering bed or do thoughts and worries begin to flow into your mind, keeping your sleep away? Do you find it hard to stop them?When you are in bed at night, there are fewer outside distractions, it is quiet and dark, and therefore you are more aware of the movements of your mind. You feel that thoughts are attacking you, not giving you a moment's rest, especially if you are experiencing some problems in your life.
Who Needs Sleep Anyway? You Can Overcome Insomnia
Sleep is necessary for a person's body to work properly, grow, and heal itself after an injury. Most research findings recommend that grownups need between six and eight hours of sleep each night. Frequently people, however, cannot manage this. Approximately 20 million Americans alone have serious difficulty sleeping every night.
New Sleep Survey Reveals Finances, Family & Health Keeping Americans Up at Night : National Consumer Survey by SleepBetter.org Indicates U.S. Adults
According to the results of a new national survey by educational Web site, SleepBetter.org, Americans are losing precious hours of sleep, which may be contributing to daytime tiredness, impaired reflex times, moodiness, a lack of concentration and poor decision-making abilities. The survey indicated that the top three concerns keeping American adults up at night are finances, family and health.
Narcolepsy - The Management of a Common Sleep Disorder
Narcolepsy, a chronic and commonly diagnosed sleep disorder, affects over a quarter of a million Americans each year (approximately one person in every two thousand). Characterized by the body's inability to properly regulate sleep, narcolepsy's most obvious symptoms can include cataplexy (involuntary loss of muscle control), "automatic" behaviors (performing regular, mundane tasks by rote), hallucinations and paralysis during sleep.
Treating Insomnia During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is one of the most important, magic, and exciting periods in a woman?s life. It is not surprising, then, that a lot of women may experience sensations that they have never experienced in any other period of their lives. While most of these sensations are pleasant, there can also be some problems, and one of these problems may be insomnia.
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