The Fitness Guru

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that sleep deprivation led to increased calorie consumption. What does that mean exactly? It means that as you deprive yourself of a full night’s sleep, the result can be that you will eat more the following day.

The reason is not as simple as “well, I have a little more time on my hands, maybe I’ll grab a bite.” Sleep deprivation plays with two key hormone levels: leptin and ghrelin. Grehlin is a clever little hormone that increases your hunger. Skip those extra couple hours of shut eye and your grehlin levels increase, convincing your body that you are hungrier that necessary. And leptin, a powerful little hormone that tells your body its full and shuts your mouth, drops dramatically. In other words, your appetite will increase and there won’t be the usual shut off valve.

Interestingly, among the test subjects, the activity level of the people who slept fewer hours was much higher than the activity level of those that had a full night’s sleep.

But most of the activity was going to and from the refrigerator. And they were very grouchy and humorless.

So? What to do?

Get your 8 hours of sleep. If it is an issue for you, try a White Noise Machine (it will drown out all the annoying sounds that can wake you up before your time) or even the Olde School Sleep Mask.

The key is to remember we are talking about biochemistry here. You may think that you can get away with fewer hours and just try calorie restriction, but in the end, the hormones will get the better of you. That’s what they are there for.

So sleep up!……and rock on!!

Finally! In a study that I stumbled onto today, researchers announced that, by following the DASH Plan, individuals may reduce the threat of heart failure. But what, you may ask, is the DASH plan?

Don’t be upset that you don’t know of DASH. There are few marketing dollars that are spent annually on making it a household term– few, that is, relative to genius ideas like “Brand New Bootilicious Diet: A Thinner You in 36 hours.” (please don’t try Googling the title. I made it up to make a point.)

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and it was developed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Scientists found that by increasing whole grain products, fish, poultry, and nuts, and decreasing intake of lean red meat, sweets, added sugars, and sugar-containing beverages
compared to the typical American diet, they could effective lower blood pressure in hypertense patients. The scientific reasoning is very involved, so much so that I won’t go into it here (please take a look at a National Institute of Health brochure for more info). But I have been recommending the Plan for years, primarily because, not only will the Plan help to lower blood pressure, it also helps people lose excess weight and lowers LDL levels (that’s the bad cholesterol).

If you are looking to eat a little more healthy, skip the fads! They’ll drive you nuts!! Check out the DASH Plan.

For those of you with a keen interest in what I did with my January, here is a clip from a spot on CBS in Richmond, Virginia.

Good Times……

Virginia This Morning