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Lack of sleep adds a few centimeters to your waistline, studies say
STATES CHRONICLE – Poor sleep has a lot of negative effects on our health, but some of them are more discussed than others. What some of you might not know is the fact that lack of sleep might add a few centimeters to your waistline, as the metabolic health is affected. This means that it could also increase the risk of obesity.
What are the implications of poor sleep?
Researchers looked at the risks of poor sleep, and developed a study where they analyzed the eating and sleeping patterns of over 1,600 participants. Then, they also studied their weight, blood pressure, and waist circumference. This is how they discovered sleeping less than seven hours per night contributed to a bigger waistline.
A previous study discovered a 1.18 inches difference in waistline between people sleeping for six hours per night and those sleeping for nine hours per night. Now, this new research, published in the journal PLOS One, does not only confirm these effects poor sleep has on a person, but also highlights the importance of getting enough rest.
Sleep and weight are directly related
In an attempt to explain why poor sleep is linked to a bigger waistline and higher weight, researchers made other observations as well. Those people who didn’t get enough sleep had fewer good cholesterol, which also contributes to obesity. As the number of obese people has increased over the past decades, it is important to understand why people gain weight.
If people don’t get the hours of sleep they need, they are more likely to start the day worse. This means they drink more coffee and consume foods rich in sugar, as they need that sudden boost of energy. Also, they are too tired to go to the gym or to cook their own food, and everything contributes to them gaining weight.
This study highlights all the dangers of getting poor sleep, especially those we usually overlook. Researchers hope the study will convince people to be more careful with their hours of rest, and start taking better care of themselves.
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