The Sleep Expert Sammy Margo Reveals The Ultimate Slimming Secret

The New Year is undoubtedly the time to kick-start a healthy diet regime and weight loss programme. But what if your quality of sleep were to influence the results you see on the scales? In 2007 a study published in Sleep Medicine Review revealed the number of hours we sleep greatly influences our risk of obesity and diabetes, and the less we sleep, the greater the risk.

 What is the connection between sleep and weight?

SlumberSlumber.com’s resident sleep expert Sammy Margo suggests that the connection may be due to two hormones: leptin, which suppresses appetite, and ghrelin, which increases appetite. When your body is experiencing sleep deprivation the leptin levels are lowered whilst the ghrelin levels rise, making you feel hungry. In addition to altering your hormone levels, sleep deprivation can also be responsible for influencing your food choices, making us crave foods high in sugar and carbohydrate, which can lead to weight gain and an increased risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. All this suggests that sleep deprivation can be detrimental to your weight loss regime because it causes your body to work against you!

 A good nights sleep can aid weight loss!

A good nights sleep certainly isn’t a quick fix, and of course you have to combine it with a healthy diet and regular exercise, but quality of sleep may have more to do with successful weight loss and weight management than you ever thought possible!

Apart from the hormone shifts that occur with sleep deprivation, increasing your likelihood of gaining weight, logic would seem to suggest that:

• The more hours you are awake, the more hours you have to visit the fridge

• The less sleep you get, the more exhausted you are and the less inclined to cook properly and exercise regularly

• The more tired you are, the more likely you are to comfort eat

So before you become disenchanted with your diet programme, look into your sleep habits and aim for a good night’s sleep.

Here at SlumberSlumber we’ve already done the hard work for you by selecting products which will create a comfortable and soothing sleep environment, allowing you to achieve a good night’s sleep.

Taken from 'The Good Sleep Guide' by Sammy Margo, available to buy from SlumberSlumber.