Your poor sleeping habits could be adding inches to your waistline!
In the last few years, the link between what we eat and our sleep patterns has increasingly emerged as an important piece in the obesity puzzle.According to a new study , your poor sleeping habits could be the reason for your expanding waistline.
Scientists at a university in Leeds have found that people sleeping less than six hours a night have, on average, three centimetre bigger waist than those sleeping for nine hours. “Our findings highlight the importance of getting enough sleep when it comes to obesity ,“ says lead researcher Dr Laura Hardie.
We've known for a long time that right foods can aid sleep, but more recent research shows that better sleep helps promote weight loss.
Another study , this time by a university in Sweden, found that the more tired people were, the more they ate during the day -which, over time, led to significant weight gain. This is partly explained by the fact that lack of sleep appears to stimulate production of the hunger hormone `ghrelin', which makes us overeat. Equally , the more you sleep, the less you tend to eat.“There are now a number of interesting studies that show how long and how well you sleep are linked to your weight,“ says nutritionist Fiona Hunter and adds, “If you're trying to lose weight, it makes sense to overhaul your sleep habits as well as your diet and include foods that can help you get a good night's sleep.“
PLAN YOUR MEALS
The first step to sorting your sleep and slimming down is to eat balanced, nutritious meals and snacks, which are evenly spaced throughout the day. Eat too little during the day, and you'll overeat in the evening, leading to a night of tossing, turning and indigestion. But eat too small a dinner and you might find yourself lying awake, desperate for a trip to the fridge.Planning is therefore essential. A planned meal plan will help you break the dreaded daily cycle of sleeping badly, then guzzling caffeine and caffeine and snacking on sugary treats to get through the day. This way , you'll get a more restful night and the food plan is also designed to aid weight loss. Within two weeks, you should be sleeping more soundly, experiencing fewer cravings and starting to drop a few kilos. Follow your plan for four weeks and you could ditch a whole dress size!
DON'T CRASH DIET
If you're e a t i n g ewer than fewer than 1,200 calories per day, as some diets recommend, there's a good chance you'll d hungry, which will naturally go to bed hungry, which will naturally play havoc with sleep, so you'll tend not to lose weight in the long run. Go for a balanced diet, which has around 1,400 calories per day. This is high enough to ensure you don't go hungry, but low enough to help you lose weight.
EMBRACE VARIETY
Any restrictive diet which cuts out food groups could mean you miss out on nutrients vital for good, quality kip. For instance, low levels of calcium (found in dairy) and magnesium (in dark green vegetables, nuts and seeds) are linked to poor sleep, as both these minerals are natural relaxants. Low iron can trigger restless leg syndrome and a deficiency in the B vitamin folic acid, found in whole grains, may lead to insomnia. Similarly, people deficient in vitamin C (found in fruit and veggies) or selenium (typically in nuts, meat and fish) have been shown to sleep for fewer hours per night. Your diet should be packed with fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, nuts, fish and lean meat to ensure a varied supply of vital nutrients.
SKIP COFFEE COMPLETELY
Experiments show that caffeine actually stays in your system for up to 12 hours, which means the effects of that 11 am latte could linger until 11 pm. Avoiding caffeine for just one day , on the other hand, can improve sleep quality that night, according to stud ies. This goes for chocolate and tea, too.
TUCK YOURSELF IN WITH TRYPTO PHAN
This is an amino acid, which helps in inducing sleep. Good sources of tryptophan include eggs, meat, seafood, nuts, yoghurt, milk, oats, bananas and beans.
EAT NO LATER THAN 7 PM
It's best to eat your evening meal around three hours before bed, as this will optimise your levels of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin in time.
Eating late at night, on the other hand, increases blood flow to your digestive tract, causing your stomach to secrete more gastric acid and making your intestinal muscles work harder. This stimulates your body's metabolic systems at the very time when you want them to be slowing down for sleep.Avoiding late meals also reduces your chance of suffering from acid reflux, which can be a serious sleep disrupter.
AVOID (NEARLY ALL) BOOZE
At first, alcohol induces sleep, but if you indulge in more than one or two small drinks, you're probably in for a fragmented night. One study pinpointed that booze increased slow-wave deep sleep during the first half of the night, but increased sleep disruptions in the second half. This is why , after a heavy night out, we often find ourselves crashing straight, but then waking in the small hours. For the first two weeks on this diet, it's best to avoid alcohol. After that, one small glass of wine every other night is the limit. Sticking to this will cut lots of calories, too.
ET THE RIGHT WATER BALANCE
Research shows a direct correlation between your hydration level and the number of hours of kip you get. Aim to drink around 6-8 glasses of water a day. But if you often find yourself needing the loo in the night, it's best to avoid liquids for three hours before bedtime.
HERE ARE A FEW SLEEP-INDUCING SNACKS
Handful of Brazil nuts or almonds
Oatcakes with mashed avocado
Banana yoghurt (small bowl)
Glass of semi-skimmed milk
Sliced apple with 1 tbsp peanut butter
HAVE A MAGNESIUM BATH
Most of us know that a relaxing bath before bedtime can help get us in the mood for sleep. But by adding the muscle-relaxing mineral magnesium, you can supercharge your soak's snooze power.Magnesium deficiency has been linked to insomnia, but not everyone can absorb the mineral effectively from their diet, so getting it through your skin is a great way to boost your sleep levels.
FIVE SNOOZE SABOTEURS
1 Cheese: Soft cheese is fine but hard cheese, such as Cheddar, contains high levels of the amino acid tyramine, which makes the brain feel very alert.
2 Spicy foods: Apart from probably causing indi gestion, chilli contains capsaicin, which makes it harder for your body to regulate temperature and may result in a disturbed night.
3 Dark chocolate: Good quality chocolate can contain as much as 40 per cent of the amount of caffeine found in a standard cup of coffee.
4 Celery: If eaten in large amounts too close to bedtime, celery can act as a a diuretic that may leave you needing to pee during the night!
5 Green tea: Not only is it a source of caffeine, but it also contains two other stimulants theobromine and theophylline which can increase heart rate and trigger anxiety. Not what you want late at night!
No comments:
Post a Comment