Dr. Inna

Have you found that you are putting on more weight recently? Does it tie in with a recent inability to sleep? If you are tired all the time and having sleep problems then there is a wealth of evidence that your sleep could be leading to weight gain. I want you to understand why poor sleep and weight gain go hand in hand. Once you understand how you can reverse the decline and get back that figure you always had.

Want to know more?

You may not know this but a the US National Health & Examination Survey found that 6 hours sleepers are 23% more likely to be obese versus 7 to 8 hours sleepers. This rises to 50% in 5 hours sleepers and 73% in 4 hour sleepers. So whilst you may exercise and eat well you may still be putting on weight due to insufficient and / or poor sleep. All you need is a little knowledge to help you make informed decisions and small changes that can have a real positive impact.

Let me tell you why sleep and weight gain are so interlinked. I want you to avoid the pitfalls.

Insufficient and / or poor quality sleep affects the hormones that the body releases which impact on our general health. When we suffer sleep problems two hormones in particular are affected – ghrelin and leptin. These hormones are responsible for regulating our appetite and also telling the brain when we are full. If production of those hormones is affected we will eat more and eat more frequently.

Not only that but when we are feeling tired and run down we are also more likely to reach for drinks and snacks that are high in sugar and heavy on carbohydrate to give ourselves a “lift”. Does your chocolate craving get stronger when you’re tired? I bet it does. So not only do we want to eat more, we don’t know when we are full and we are eating much more unhealthy food.

Exercise and nutrition are not enough for good health. The problem is we have all been fairly well educated in recent times in healthy eating and the need for exercise. The third (and often forgotten) pillar of health is sleep. Sleep is vital to keeping us in good health and productive. Yet general knowledge on sleep remains poor.

Don’t despair. With sleep a little knowledge goes a long way. To understand how much sleep you need, what happens if you don’t get enough sleep and how you can achieve sufficient sleep all you need to do is follow the link below. In 30 minutes you will have all the knowledge you need. It’s time to say goodbye to those extra pounds you’ve put on.

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Keep your room in absolute darkness as the tiniest light in the room can disrupt the circadian rhythm (the sleep-wake cycle), and the production of the pineal gland (melatonin and serotonin, substances of the nervous system).

If you get up during the night to visit the bathroom, do not turn on the light, because melatonin production, which contributes to good sleep will cease automatically.

Set alarm clocks and other electrical appliances as far away from the bed as possible. Keeping track of time can cause sleeplessness can be stressful. Also, avoid loud alarms as a sudden awakening causes stress.

Keep the room temperature at 21-22 degrees Celsius. Excessive heat is not helpful for a good sleep. Be sure to keep your feet warm, you increase your chances of a good sleep.

The body’s system “recharges” better between 11:00PM and 1:00AM.

Read. Take a hot bath.

Avoid foods with a lot of sugar before sleep as excessively elevated blood sugar inhibits sleep, and later, these levels may decrease sharply (getting hypoglycemia) causing you to wake up. Eating a snack with enough protein, or some fruit, shortly before sleep may help the L-tryptophan to produce melatonin and serotonin.

Avoid caffeine.

Avoid excessive fluids right before going to bed because you may have to wake to go to the bathroom.

Avoid alcohol. Alcohol temporarily creates sleepiness or drowsiness, but this is temporary. A few hours later, alcohol actually disrupts sleep. Alcohol prevents the body from achieving deeper levels of sleep, causing you to be exhausted the next day.

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Do you spend more than half an hour struggling to fall asleep each night? Are you tossing and turning and getting frustrated? Do you feel tired and irritable throughout the day? You may be suffering from insomnia.

Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Insomnia is more common than you think. Research suggests that practically everyone will suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives.

Insomnia may affect you for a short period of time (acute insomnia) or it might be an ongoing struggle (chronic insomnia). Either way, it can be a frustrating and joyless existence, with serious long-term health effects.

When you suffer from insomnia, not only do you feel tired all the time, but your cognitive abilities are impaired. You can’t think as quickly or creatively as you could while fully rested. People who suffer from insomnia make more mistakes, leading to potentially dangerous accidents at home or work. And lastly, as people with insomnia often toss and turn or get up during the night and move around the house, they can disturb the sleep of other family members.

You owe it to yourself and to your family to get to the root of your insomnia. In most cases, insomnia is caused by an outside problem – perhaps it’s a medical condition that keeps you awake, or maybe you’re stressed about something in your waking life. Perhaps you are over stimulating your mind close to bedtime and you can’t relax.

Once you discover the cause of your insomnia, you can take steps to cure it. Although Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders, it’s also one of the easiest to cure. Lifestyle changes, like doing relaxing activities before bed and cutting down on caffeine, or natural sleep aids, like herbal sleeping pills, can help you break the cycle of insomnia and sleep well again.

If you think your insomnia might be a symptom of a more serious health problem, see your doctor immediately.

Insomnia doesn’t have to take over your life. The cure can be a simple as relaxing more before bed, cutting back on caffeine or taking an herbal sleeping remedy.

For more information about insomnia and sleep remedies you can visit the Sleep and Insomnia Guide

If you suffer from snoring or sleep apnea symptoms that are contributing to your insomnia problem, try our anti-snoring mouth guard.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/how-do-you-know-you-have-insomnia-4424689.html

About the Author

The Sleep and Insomnia Guide is a collaboration of authors who are constantly looking out for the latest information to do with insomnia and sleeping disorders. Whilst not experts on the matter they have each been affected by sleep disorders themselves or someone they know has. The Insomnia and Sleep Guide is kept up to date with regular articles as well as submitted for others to share and use.