Weight loss / Metabolism
Metabolism is the same as the body's combustion, or turnover of energy. There are quite large individual differences in metabolism. The chemical balance in the body can vary and so can the turnover rate. There are generally two different types of disorders linked to the digestive system. One form of disorder is that one eats and drinks either too little or too much. The second type of disorder is hereditary. It cannot be cured but can be remedied or controlled with a diet plan.
Description
Weight loss and sleep
Too little sleep is linked to obesity in adults. A short sleep affects appetite regulation with an increased food intake. It affects the blood sugar level, while the basic regulation of combustion is not affected. A good sleep can therefore contribute to weight loss and a reduced risk of being overweight.
There is a great deal of evidence that sleep is of great importance for the functioning of the brain, among other things to reduce its energy requirement and for energy build-up (metabolism). There are studies that show that reduced sleep quality and sleep length have negative consequences for the health.
Too little sleep inhibits fat loss and breaks down muscle mass.
To achieve lasting weight loss, you need energy and sleep. Lack of sleep makes it harder to lose weight and increases the amount of unhealthy fat around our organs. Too little sleep increases fatigue and thus the desire to be physically active. At the same time, sugar cravings increase - and that's a really bad combination. Some also experience a poorer energy surplus and performance.
Since the body's production of growth hormones peaks at night, a short or poor sleep will affect fat burning. Research has shown that sleeping for only 4-5 hours a night can lead to obesity.
Research clearly shows that lack of sleep causes an increase in body fat. It would be best to sleep between seven and nine hours a night if you want to burn fat while you sleep. If you sleep less than seven hours, experiments at Columbia University, USA, have shown that you are generally fatter, gain weight over time and have difficulty losing weight.
An experiment carried out at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, showed that you consume more calories if you are awake between 22:00 and 04:00. You usually eat more breakfast if you are sleepy. At the same time, you may have a tendency to eat larger portions and consume unhealthy food during the day.
Scientists believe that just one night of sleep deprivation stimulates the appetite hormone ghrelin, which makes you eat more. Lack of sleep can increase cravings for sugar and carbohydrates the following day. Experiments show that increasing your sleep period by a single hour also leads to healthier eating habits.
Consuming food before bed and at night can lead to obesity. If you can't sleep because of hunger, then you should avoid fast carbohydrates and focus on protein-containing food. Otherwise, carrots, almonds and walnuts are generally recommended.
Another experiment published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that those who sleep approximately eighy hours a night, burn 5% more fat at rest than those who are sleep deprived. Furthermore, those who slept eight hours a night burned approximately 20% more fat after meals than those who were sleep-deprived.
Sleep problems can cause large societal costs through medical consultations, sleeping pills, reduced productivity and concentration. Sleep problems can also cause absence from work.
Irregular sleep times and daily consumption of sleeping pills have a negative impact on sleep quality and can lead to obesity.
One cause of sleep problems is an imbalance in our natural circadian rhythm, as the natural production of melatonin is inhibited due to blue light, which comes from light pollution (artificial lighting, TV and PCs).
Over a day, the body can at most maintain a maximum production of the natural sleep aid, melatonin, for approximately 10-12 hours straight. In adults with a well-balanced circadian rhythm, the production of melatonin takes place, typically for 9-10 hours during the night hours - and it is noticeable in the dark.
Weight loss and sleep glasses
Many people try to solve sleepproblems with addictive sleeping pills, but there is a healthy alternative, namely sleep glasses. This is a simple solution that works after just 1-5 five days of use. Furthermore, sleep glasses are completely free of annoying side effects.
In people with a well-balanced circadian rhythm, the production of the body's natural sleep aid, melatonin, takes place for 9-10 hours in a row, out of the 24 hours of the day.
People who for one reason or another have imbalances in their melatonin production can improve their sleep remarkably by using sleep glasses.
The result of using sleep glasses is that you fall asleep more easily. Sleep becomes sound and deep, and you wake up refreshed and rested in the morning, as melatonin production is decreasing.
Sleep glasses are a healthy alternative that generally work after just 1-5 days of use.
Far too many children and young people go to bed too late and get too little sleep. They are not rested when they are woken up early in the morning because they have to go to kindergarten or school.
A rule of thumb is that children aged 5-9 should sleep 10-12 hours per day. night, children aged 10-13 9-11 hours per night and teenagers 8-10 hours per night.
Many kindergarten and school children are barely awake during the first hours of kindergarten and school due to having too few hours of sleep at night. This greatly affects their well-being and ability to learn.
The problem can be avoided by bringing forward the time in the evening when the production of melatonin starts. This is achieved by the child avoiding exposing his eyes to blue light for a few hours before the planned bedtime.
In terms of worsening sleep, the big culprits today are smartphones, tablets, computers and TV, which many children and young people use right up until they go to sleep. They all emit a very large amount of blue light and this can cause children and young people to be unable to fall asleep.
The most practical method is to wear sleep glasses, which block the blue light in the light spectrum. As an alternative, you can use LED bulbs that do not emit blue light and corresponding screen filters that are attached to TV and PC screens.
In the course of a few days, when the child has avoided blue light in the evening, the cycle for the production of melatonin will be advanced, so that it ends well before kindergarten or school.
Research regarding weight loss
Suppression of Blue Light at Night Ameliorates Metabolic Abnormalities by Controlling Circadian Rhythms
Here, we report that blue light disrupts the circadian rhythm by disrupting the clock gene in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and that filtering out blue light at night improves metabolic...
Suppression of Blue Light at Night Ameliorates Metabolic Abnormalities by Controlling Circadian Rhythms
Purpose: Light-emitting diodes that emit high-intensity blue light are associated with blue-light hazard. Here, we report that blue light disturbs circadian rhythms by interfering with the clock gene in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and that suppression of blue light at night ameliorates metabolic abnormalities by controlling circadian rhythms.
Methods: C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 10-lux light for 30 minutes at Zeitgeber time 14 for light pulse with blue light or blue-light cut light to induce phase shift of circadian rhythms. Phase shift, clock gene expression in SCN, and metabolic parameters were analyzed. In the clinical study, healthy participants wore blue-light shield eyewear for 2 to 3 hours before bed. Anthropometric data analyses, laboratory tests, and sleep quality questionnaires were performed before and after the study.
Results: In mice, phase shift induced with a blue-light cut light pulse was significantly shorter than that induced with a white light pulse. The phase of Per2 expression in the SCN was also delayed after a white light pulse. Moreover, blood glucose levels 48 hours after the white light pulse were higher than those after the blue-cut light pulse. Irs2 expression in the liver was decreased with white light but significantly recovered with the blue-cut light pulse. In a clinical study, after 1 month of wearing blue-light shield eyeglasses, there were improvements in fasting plasma glucose levels, insulin resistance, and sleep quality.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that suppression of blue light at night effectively maintains circadian rhythms and metabolism.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31504080/
Significance and application of melatonin in the regulation of brown adipose tissue metabolism: relation to human obesity
The new discovery that a significant amount of functional brown adipose tissue is retained in adult humans provides a potential target for the treatment of human obesity. The physiology of...
Significance and application of melatonin in the regulation of brown adipose tissue metabolism: relation to human obesity
A worldwide increase in the incidence of obesity indicates the unsuccessful battle against this disorder. Obesity and the associated health problems urgently require effective strategies of treatment. The new discovery that a substantial amount of functional brown adipose tissue (BAT) is retained in adult humans provides a potential target for treatment of human obesity. BAT is active metabolically and disposes of extra energy via generation of heat through uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. The physiology of BAT is readily regulated by melatonin, which not only increases recruitment of brown adipocytes but also elevates their metabolic activity in mammals. It is speculated that the hypertrophic effect and functional activation of BAT induced by melatonin may likely apply to the human. Thus, melatonin, a naturally occurring substance with no reported toxicity, may serve as a novel approach for treatment of obesity. Conversely, because of the availability of artificial light sources, excessive light exposure after darkness onset in modern societies should be considered a potential contributory factor to human obesity as light at night dramatically reduces endogenous melatonin production. In the current article, the potential associations of melatonin, BAT, obesity and the medical implications are discussed.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20557470/