Usually when we talk about obesity, we mention diet, exercise, Lap Band surgery, or other related issues, but how often do we consider sleep as an important factor that contributes to obesity?

The relationship between sleep and body weight has been around for a long time.  Maybe the most common part of it is that more hours of sleep means more pounds added to your body, for when you sleep, your body’s activities are in the lowest rate . However, the other part that not everyone knows is that  lack of sleep contributes to obesity.

People have different reasons to stay awake for a late hour at night. One of them could be work,  some concerns, health problems, or just some chat on the net.  According to research if you miss some of your sleep hours for only one night, your blood sugar level will be affected the next day.

In order to verify the links, researchers measured insulin and glucose in blood samples taken from people who cut their usual sleep hours to the  half. They found that the cells sensitivity to insulin decreased significantly, which means that the pancreas would pump more insulin into blood in order to overcome this insensitivity. This excess insulin contributes to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Now that we know how lack of sleep links to obesity, we have to find ways to have good sleep. whereas 8 hours is ideal time to rest, many people need more or less depending on their bodies’ needs. But for some reasons they fail to get all these hours in bed. It is advisable to think about problems ahead of time before hitting the sack. In addition, it is better to avoid watching TV immediately before going to bed, or even to turn off the electronics at least an hour before sleeping.

In brief, lack of sleep could lead to obesity and related illnesses, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, so before you decide whether to  go through diets or undergo Lap Band surgery, you’d better manage to have good sleep.