Studies Identify Relationships Between Sleep and Weight Gain (Part 2)
September 6th, 2008 by Go Weblog
In part one of this series, we discussed a relationship between sleep and weight, and three hormones that had serious implications when it comes to weight loss or gain. Two hormones were discussed in part one of this series (leptin and cortisol) and today we are going to discuss the third, human growth hormone (HGH).
A 1999 study published in “The Lancet” followed a group of young men who were limited to just 4 hours of sleep for sixteen straight days had increased levels of cortisol - which slows metabolism and causes fat to be stored - and decreased levels of leptin - which cause a “satisfied” feeling when the body has consumed enough food.
As a follow up to this study, Eve Van Cauter (the head researcher) looked more deeply into the effects of sleep deprivation on the body’s chemistry - particularly as it pertains to weight loss or gain. The results of the follow up study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2000.
The follow up study looked at the phases of sleep that a person experiences and how those phases change as a person gets older. It seems that as men age, they experience less “deep sleep” than when they were younger. Women, on the other hand, experience about the same amount of “deep sleep” throughout their lives, until after menopause when their sleep patterns more closely match that of a similarly aged male.
So what, you ask, does that have to do with weight gain or loss? The answer varies whether you are a male or a female, and has to do with the third hormone we will discuss: human growth hormone. HGH, as it is commonly called, is secreted into the blood stream for the purpose of repairing muscle and tissue. If you are exercising, you are actually damaging your muscles by creating tiny tears in the tissues. This is how we gain lean muscle. We break down the muscle when we exercise, and then we rebuild it at night while we sleep.
Men secrete two-thirds of their HGH during the periods of “deep sleep” and women secrete one-third of thiers. If you are robbing yourself of valuable sleep, you aren’t getting to the point where HGH is getting into your blood stream. The less “deep sleep” that a person experiences, the less HGH that is available to build lean muscle.
What makes this worse is that the study found (at least for men) that even if they get the same number of hours of sleep as a younger man, they still get less “deep sleep” than their younger counterparts. Van Cauter’s research showed that a 45-year-old man’s HGH production will have decreased by 75% as compared to a 25-year-old.
Since the odds are stacked against us as we get older, what are we to do? As you may be aware, the body is an efficient and hard-working machine. It has three major processes that operate over the course of the day. We work (exercise), we make energy (digest) and we repair (sleep), just not all at once. Each of the processes requires too much energy to be efficiently performed while another is being completed. If you don’t believe me, eat a big meal and go run for two hours.
The body was designed to fuel and then work and then refuel and work some more, and then repair itself overnight. The more HGH that is released into the blood stream, the more muscle repair, and even lean muscle gain, takes place. Two things that we can do to help stack the odds in our favor are to make time for exercise and sleep, and to supplement with time release whey protein before sleep.
Supplementing with whey protein (such as NightTrainer, http://www.nighttrainer.com) puts the building blocks of muscle (protein and amino acids) into your body so that they’re available to help the HGH build more lean muscle. (An added benefit I’ve noticed is that because it comes in chocolate and vanilla flavor, I can avoid eating dessert when I’m craving something sweet late at night, knowing I’ll soon be enjoying my protein drink.)
As has been chronicled here and myriad other texts, building lean muscle is exactly what one needs to do in order to win the battle of the bulge. Sweet dreams!
Michael Callen is the author of the Weekly Weightloss Tips Newsletter (http://www.weeklyweightlosstips.com) and the Chief Technology Officer for WellnessPartners.com (http://www.WellnessPartners.com), an online retailer of dozens of health and wellness products such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), r+ alpha lipoic acid (R+ ALA), and green tea extract.
Tags: ALA, CLA, diet, fat loss, green tea, humor, hydrate, kidney, liver, metabolism, obese, sleep, water, weight lossChange Your “Fat Thermostat” to a Healthy Level
July 31st, 2008 by Go Weblog
Have you ever watched someone who looks healthy and
slender eating a slice of chocolate cake and wondered how
they stay thin? Part of the story is that a set-point in
the brain keeps their body fat and weight level from
varying much that is, unless they do something that causes
their brain to change the set-point.
That’s what happened when I quit smoking. I had been thin
all my life. Then I stopped smoking and gained about 25
pounds! By quitting I had inadvertently triggered a process
that changed the body-weight regulator in my brain.
My body started making fat out of everything I ate, whereas
it formerly eliminated excess calories. Stopping smoking is
only one of many major changes that can cause your brain’s
body-weight controls to be altered.
Let’s call the weight regulator in your brain a *set-
point,* and a good image for the set-point is the
temperature you set on the thermostat for the heating and
cooling system of your house. If it is set at 71 degrees,
then the temperature doesn’t vary by more than a degree or
two before the thermostat tells the furnace to heat up (or
the air conditioner to cool down).
Your brain’s set-point functions much the same way. It
maintains a steady body-weight and body-fat level through a
complex interaction of hormones and metabolic processes.
The chemistry of how this works is beyond the scope of this
article. Suffice it to say that if you’ve gained weight or
lost weight, it is because your set-point has moved. And
if you want to lose or gain weight, you can take certain
actions to re-adjust your set-point to a level more
acceptable to you.
First, eat the right stuff. This is not hard if you
follow these simple guidelines:
a) minimize sugar and flour-based foods (refined carbs);
b) eat less animal fat, such as butter, cheese, marbled
meat, and eat less fat in general but don’t use low-fat
products like low-fat mayonnaise, because the chemicals
they have to use to make this stuff palatable is hard for
your body to process; just use real mayonnaise, only less
of it;
c) eat complex carbohydrates like vegetables, fruits and
whole grains, which your body recognizes as normal foods
and will process them as fuel, giving you long-term energy.
Second, drink the right stuff: water. It supports your
metabolism, helps your systems with eliminating toxins and
other excess. Coffee, tea, sweetened juices, diet or
regular soda, and alcohol do not contribute to your health
nor to your metabolism. Keep consumption of them to a
minimum.
Third, do the right kind of rhythmic large muscle exercise
daily, and sustain it for 30 to 60 minutes. If this sounds
like a lot of time, ask yourself, how important is it to
you to be healthy and/or lose weight?
You’re not going to re-set your brain’s weight regulator
(the set-point without exercise - it’s that simple. But the
exercise can be a pleasure once you understand which types
to do. Fortunately, your not faced here with push-ups or
lifting weights.
In terms of the exercise that will affect your set-point,
‘large muscle’ means especially using your legs. Walking
is the perfect place to start because you don’t need
special skills or equipment. You can also bike or swim or
jog. Whatever you enjoy.
‘Rhythmic’ means something you can do steadily,
repetitively. ‘Sustained’ means without stopping: continuous. 30 minutes is a minimum. Work up to an hour for best results.
Get your heart rate up to the level where you are exerting
yourself, but could still carry on a conversation. More
than that level, and you’re not into set-point changing
exercise anymore. Here, no pain no gain is an undesirable
approach.
If you make these three things a daily habit, (proper
eating, drinking, and exercise) your set-point will change,
and you’ll lose weight.
I lost the 25 pounds I’d gained when I stopped smoking, and
in the process I learned some pleasant habits that have
improved the quality of my life as well as my health.
Habitually, I eat delicious whole foods, enjoy a daily
walk, and drink mainly water.
I feel good now, and looking good is just a bonus. You’ll
feel good, too, and your body will thank you, blessing you
with good health.
Please note: This article is for information purposes
only. Always consult your doctor or health-care
professional.
S.J. Harstad, personal trainer and internet publisher, is
a contributing writer for All About Nutrition,
offering valuable free information to help you make healthy
choices. Articles by S.J Harstad can also be found at Z Cooking and A-Tec Exercise.
How to Increase Your Metabolism for Maximum Weight Loss
July 1st, 2008 by Go Weblog
One of the most common misconceptions about dieting is that if you want to lose weight all you have to do is eat fewer calories then your body burns. Now don’t get me wrong, eating fewer calories will reduce your bodyweight in the short-term, but if that is all you do then you are looking at limiting your success. The human body is a very adaptable machine and will make adjustments to maintain a state of balance. Simply put, only reducing the amount of calories you eat a day will cause your body to eventually slow down the metabolism to a point where it only burn’s the amount of calories that you consume.
So what do you need to do to insure long-term success in your weight loss program? First of all you will need to make sure that you add both diet and exercise to your program. Excluding either one of these will limit your success and keep you from achieving your full potential.
The next step is to change up the diet so that the body is unable to adapt. The best way to confuse the body is to add a cheat meal at the end of the week. The cheat meal allows you to reward yourself by eating anything that you want. The great side effects of the cheat meal are that you emotionally set yourself up in a position to stick to your diet and you also confuse the body so that the metabolism becomes a fat burning machine.
Other key tips and tricks you will want to use to boost your metabolism are:
1. Eat at least six meals a day - If you eat only once or twice a day you body is going to slow down the metabolism to accommodate the infrequent feedings. When you eat six small meals a day your body gets the nutrients it needs while avoiding the “starvation period”.
2. Eat complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, yams and brown rice earlier in the day.
3. Switch to fibrous carbohydrates such as broccoli, salad, green beans for the later meals.
4. Eat fruit earlier in the day.
5. Avoid processed foods and sugars
6. Drink lots of water - Water passes nutrients and waste to and from the cells. You will want to try and drink at least a gallon of water a day.
Tying it all together
Dieting is not complicated but it does require discipline. There are a lot of programs and supplements out there promising amazing results with very little effort. From my experience the only program that really works is the good ol’ diet and exercise routine. The key rule to keep in mind is that if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.
Want to find out more on how you can increase your metabolism? Visit Gerald’s site at http://www.increase-metabolism.power-of-knowledge.com/ for fat burning details.
Tags: burn fat, diet, increase metabolism, lose weight, metabolism, workout