This Sleeping Habit Makes You Fat!

If you sleep enough, you help lose weight. But a new study now proves that a certain sleeping habit can also make us fat!

Slender in sleep has been leading the way for years: Sufficient sleep not only makes us fit and lively, but also reduces cravings – and thus helps us lose weight. But there is also a habit of sleeping that can even cause the opposite to happen with women. At least, that is the result of a study by the National Institutes of Health, published in the Journal of American Medial Association (AMA). According to this study, brightness of any kind disturbs the metabolism during sleep – which causes women to gain weight.

Away with cell phone, bedside lamp and television

Are you one of those women who nod off while watching TV? Then you should try to avoid that in the future. Light disturbs our sleep-wake rhythm – every light, from the television to the bedside lamp. It signals to the body that it is time to be awake and active. This in turn upsets the metabolism and less sleep-inducing melatonin is released. A possible consequence: we have more appetite and eat more.

For the study, data from nearly 44,000 US women were recorded and analyzed while sleeping. In comparison with other test subjects, the women who slept with a television or other light source in the room increased with a probability of 17 percent. In fact, they gained at least eleven pounds, or almost five kilos, over a period of five years. Other possible factors, such as diet and exercise, were taken into account in the study. Incidentally, the researchers suspect that the result would be the same for men as test subjects.

Lights out!

The simple advice of the researchers: If possible, we should only sleep in the dark. This not only pleases the figure, but also has other health benefits. Previous studies have already shown that a disturbed sleep-wake rhythm can also increase the risk of various diseases such as depression, high blood pressure and diabetes.