The Health Benefits of Sleep

How Sleep is Beneficial to Weight Loss and Your Overall Health

When thinking about the most significant factors that can improve your health, the main focus tends to be on diet and exercise. But there’s a third piece to the health and wellness puzzle that often gets overlooked, and that’s sleep.

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. With good reason. The average adult requires 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. And a lack of adequate sleep over time has been associated with a shortened lifespan.

All told, we spend about 26 years (227,760 hours) of our lives sleeping. Yet almost half of all Americans say they feel sleepy during the day between three and seven days per week and 35.2% of all adults in the U.S. report sleeping on average for less than seven hours per night.

This is why it’s so important to create healthy sleeping habits.

Research shows a strong connection between sleep and your overall health. Getting the recommended amount of sleep can have a positive affect your metabolic health, hormonal health, and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Let’s take a closer look at how sleep can affect maintaining a healthy body weight.

4 Ways Sleep May Affect Weight Loss

1. Appetite:

A lack of sleep also affects your body’s regulation of the neurotransmitters ghrelin and leptin. These chemical messengers let your body know when it’s hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin).

When you’re deprived of sleep, your leptin level can be too low, which may cause you to overeat because you’re not getting a signal that you’re full.

In one study, men who got 4 hours of sleep had increased ghrelin and decreased leptin compared to those who got 10 hours of sleep.

This dysregulation of ghrelin and leptin may lead to increased appetite and diminished feelings of fullness in people who are sleep deprived.

2. Overeating:

When you’re tired, it’s not easy to maintain healthy habits. Recent studies show that adults who get only 4 hours of sleep have increased levels of hunger and appetite. The combination of having less energy and feeling hungrier may cause you to crave foods that are higher in calories for a quick energy boost.

3. Fat storage:

Not getting enough sleep may trigger a cortisol spike. Cortisol is a stress hormone that signals your body to conserve energy to fuel your waking hours. In other words, when you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to hang on to fat.

4. Metabolism:

Your metabolism dictates how much energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself. Evidence shows that sleep loss and sleep disorders have a significant impact on metabolism.

One of the major impacts on metabolism includes fluctuating blood sugar levels.

Did you know that GOLO’s Release supplement works to help keep these levels steady throughout the day? Of course, that doesn’t mean you should skip sleep but it does mean that Release is helping your metabolism.

What are the Best Foods for a Good Night’s Sleep?

There are many chemicals, amino acids, enzymes, nutrients, and hormones in foods and drinks contain that control parts of the sleep cycle. Incorporating these foods into your diet may help you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer.

Foods that Can Promote a Good Night’s Sleep

Almonds: Contain high amounts of melatonin, which helps regulate the sleep cycle. They also contain magnesium and calcium, which promote muscle relaxation and sleep.

Warm milk: Milk contains four sleep-promoting compounds: tryptophan, calcium, vitamin D, and melatonin. A warm cup of milk before bed can also act as a relaxing nightly ritual that promotes sleep.

Kiwi: Contains melatonin, anthocyanins, and more. Studies link kiwi consumption with improved total sleep time and the time it takes to fall asleep.

Chamomile tea: The flavonoid compound in Chamomile, called apigenin, is known to have sleep-inducing properties. Chamomile is thought to be a remedy for insomnia.

Walnuts: Researchers haven’t proven that walnuts can improve sleep, but they are high in compounds like melatonin and serotonin. Walnuts also contains magnesium, potassium, and calcium. These nutrients may help with sleep as well.

Tart cherries: There is a positive correlation between improved sleep and cherry consumption. Antioxidants in tart cherries, called polyphenols, may also influence sleep regulation.

Fatty fish: A good source of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, fatty fish may improve sleep because those two nutrients help regulate serotonin.

Whole Grains: Whole grains are enriched with a range of nutrients known to impact sleep.

These are just a few foods that can help with sleep quality. But there are plenty of others. In a broad sense, lean meats and high-fiber foods have been found to improve sleep quality.

How GOLO Can Help with Sleep

The GOLO for Life Plan is a back to basics, balanced eating plan that focuses on eating whole foods, including healthy carbs and fats. The vitamins and nutrients you get from eating whole foods, including the ones mentioned in this article, can help maintain good energy and promote restful sleep.

When combing balanced meals of whole foods with Release, GOLO’s patented, all-natural, plant-based supplement, you may experience significant health improvements, including increased energy and improved sleep. Release includes Rhodiola and Zinc. Rhodiola could help decrease fatigue and zinc may help regulate sleep. That means you’ll have more energy throughout the day and a restful night’s sleep.

We are here to help support you in reaching your weight loss and wellness goals. Remember to subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated with our latest articles and news. Join the GOLO Facebook Community to connect with like-minded people.

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