Insomnia affects metabolism and leptin causes weight gain

Can insomnia lead to obesity? According to Phyllis Ji, a researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, it is known that sleeping less than seven hours can cause metabolic disorders and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. When people sleep, the body releases a chemical called "leptin", which can control the amount of fat accumulation in the body. However, if you suffer from insomnia, the secretion of this substance will decrease, causing the patient to gain weight.

Studies have found that sleeping less than 7 hours can cause metabolic disorders and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Pan Junshen, director of the pediatric department at Shutian Clinic, pointed out that adipose tissue is generally considered to be a place where energy is stored. It secretes many substances that affect the functions of tissues and organs throughout the body. These substances are called "fat hormones." There are many types of adipose hormones, some of which are related to inflammation, insulin resistance and diabetes, some are related to vascular proliferation, and some even have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system.

Leptin deficiency may lead to obesity risk

It has been clinically confirmed that leptin is a protein hormone released from adipose tissue that sends signals to the hypothalamus in the brain, affecting the regulation mechanism of weight and metabolism. When lack of sleep leads to too little leptin in the body, even if there is no need to eat, the hypothalamus in the brain will still send out signals of lack of energy, storing the calories consumed as fat for future use, but this can easily lead to the risk of obesity.

In fact, sleeping too long will lower the body's basal metabolic rate and reduce food intake, which makes it easy to lose weight. Therefore, weight loss cannot be directly equated with the leptin concentration produced during sleep. Basically, to achieve weight loss results, it is still necessary to comprehensively consider external factors such as food intake, activity level, fat ratio, etc. Only by taking all aspects into consideration can you really lose weight quickly.

Although leptin can control appetite and promote metabolism, it still requires adequate sleep to achieve weight loss goals.

Sleep disorders can affect metabolism

Dr. Pan Junshen emphasized that in the past, people always believed that the factors causing obesity and metabolic syndrome were due to poor diet, exercise and other lifestyle habits, but with the progress of related research, it was found that sleep has a considerable impact on the endocrine system in the body. In particular, people need to get enough sleep to produce enough leptin to control appetite and promote metabolism.

4 major hazards of insufficient sleep

Hazard 1: Affects brain thinking and reduces work efficiency

Experiments have shown that if the human brain is to think clearly and react quickly, it must have sufficient sleep. If it lacks sleep for a long time, it will make people feel anxious and worried, and the brain will not get enough rest, which will affect the brain's creative thinking and ability to handle things. As a result, work efficiency is greatly reduced.

Harm 2: Lack of sleep for adolescents affects their normal development

Studies have shown that in addition to factors such as genetics, nutrition, and exercise, the growth and development of adolescents is also related to the secretion of growth hormone. Since the secretion of auxin is closely related to sleep, the secretion of auxin decreases in the non-sleeping state. Therefore, if teenagers want to develop well and grow taller, they must get enough sleep.

Harm 3: Lack of sleep is the beginning of aging

Lack of sleep leads to dark circles, eye bags, and dry skin. Night is the body's physiological rest time. If you don't rest when you should, you will be overly tired, which will cause poor blood circulation around the eyes, causing dark circles, eye bags, or bloodshot whites of the eyes. You will also be prone to problems such as rough skin, yellowish complexion, dark spots, acne, etc.

Hazard 4: Lack of sleep can lead to serious diseases

Regular lack of sleep will make people feel anxious and worried, and reduce immunity, which will lead to various diseases such as neurasthenia, colds, gastrointestinal diseases, etc., and will also increase the risk of many major diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.