This could be the reason you're gaining weight
Research shows that insufficient and poor-quality sleep is a risk factor for obesity. At its root lie metabolic and hormonal changes, such as decreased levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin, reduced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, and increased levels of cortisol and ghrelin (an appetite-stimulating hormone).
There is also evidence that poor sleep creates a favorable environment for the activation of genes that promote obesity. In short, if you're not sleeping enough, you're a candidate for gaining weight!
Insufficient sleep, in terms of both duration and quality, is a risk factor for the development of obesity and type II diabetes. For this reason, a good night's sleep is seen, alongside other health measures, as a critical component of health in preventing and treating obesity and type II diabetes.
YOU NEED AT LEAST 6 HOURS OF SLEEP!
The amount of sleep needed for a healthy life varies by age, season, the region one lives in, one's occupation, and from person to person, including genetic factors. While the average sleep requirement ranges between 5-10 hours a day, an adult needs to sleep 6-8 hours a day. However, when discussing short sleepers, those who sleep 6 hours during the week but make up for their sleep deficit by extending their sleep to 8-10 hours on weekends should be excluded from this assessment.
It's also possible for a person who sleeps less to feel more satisfied and rested than someone who sleeps more. For example, well-known figures such as Napoleon and Churchill are known to have gotten by on little sleep, and this trait is often discussed in the media. What stands out here is the quality of sleep, rather than its duration.
In fact, it has been observed that stressed and troubled people tend to sleep more, while those who have a positive outlook on life, are optimistic, cheerful, and at peace with themselves, tend to get by with less sleep. While only 10% of society in Turkey sustains itself on less than 6 hours of sleep, in Germany 15% of the population can get by on less than 6 hours of sleep.
THE TIME IT TAKES TO FALL ASLEEP AND THE CONTINUITY OF SLEEP MATTER!
While some people fall asleep the moment their head hits the pillow, others begin thinking, from the moment their head touches the pillow, about everything that happened during the day and the problems they'll face the next day, and can only fall asleep, with difficulty, after several distressing hours. The length of time it takes to fall asleep and the level of distress during that time are among the most important factors affecting quality sleep. A second factor that determines whether we wake up feeling rested is the number of times we wake during the night. Research has shown that people who experience brief or prolonged periods of wakefulness during the night are forced to make do with disrupted, "fragmented" sleep. In such cases, satisfying sleep can never be achieved. Data on the time it takes to fall asleep and the continuity of sleep is related to how satisfying that sleep is. However, criteria that would prove we've slept well have not yet been established.
THERE'S ALSO AN EXPLANATION FOR THE DROWSINESS THAT SETS IN AFTER MEALS!
Along with food, a large amount of foreign protein, fungi, and germs enter the stomach and intestines. In such an environment, it's beneficial to take a short afternoon nap to protect our defense system. But it's important to remember that cell renewal and hormonal reactions only occur at night. In other words, an afternoon nap is not beauty sleep — it's an art of defense! True beauty sleep is the sleep we get at night. This is because the melatonin hormone secreted by our brain is only produced after dark, in an environment where our eyes receive no light. This hormone initiates the skin's renewal process.
You can find more information on this and similar topics in my book "The Magic Power of Sleep."