People who get five or fewer hours of sleep a night are 55% more likely to be obese than those who sleep 8 hours straight.*

Sleep deprivation may increase your output of hunger hormones, turn off your fullness hormones, and bring on cravings for simple carbs (sweet and sugary foods), which perk you up. Sleep gives your body a chance to rebuild and repair itself.

Not sleeping for at least 7 hours each night? Start improving now, by getting to bed 15 minutes earlier tonight. (That might mean starting to get ready for bed a lot earlier!) Then every few nights, go to bed another 15 minutes earlier, until you’re at a minimum of 7 hours each night.

*According to a review of 45 studies published in the journal Sleep.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 19th, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Sleep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.