12/01/2020
Besides nutrition, sleep is arguably the second most important factor in health and metabolism. Its hormonal effects are very underrated. We usually focus on nutrition and exercise in the weight-loss and lifestyle-transformation process. But lack of sleep can mess up our well-planned weight-loss project. Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality is one of the most important risk factors for many diseases like cardiovascular diseases, dementia, and cancers. A good example of this are night-shift workers. A meta-analysis done in 2018 found that the more night shifts a person works, the greater their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The risk of diabetes for night-shift workers is up to 44% higher than for those who only work day shifts. The other thing that a motivated dieter doesnโt know is that just losing a couple of hours of sleep every night sabotages his/her weight loss process in a rather extreme way. In another study, it was found that while sleeping either 5.5 hours or 8.5 hours a night, both groups lost the same amount of weight. The 5.5 hour group lost 55% less fat and 60% more fat-free mass than the 8.5 hour group. This has an enormous effect on oneโs weight loss goal and metabolism in the long run. It is no wonder that our western society has so many chronic diseases, when it is estimated that 75% of adults donโt sleep enough.