Obesity
Is that bag of potato chips, sleeve of cookies, or big juicy burger just calling your name… again and again?
Do you almost feel magnetically drawn to sugar, carbs, and high-calorie foods?
Do you want to know a secret that may help shut down that tractor-beam of insatiable snacking?
The solution is to get good quality sleep every night for 7-9 hours!
What!?!?
Sleep???
How is sleep going to curb my cravings?
Well, I am glad you asked! It turns out that studies show men and women as well as boys and girls, alike, consistently tend to crave junk food the day after a poor night of sleep. The attributes of a poor night of sleep, also considered sleep deprivation, can include:
- Short Sleep Duration &
- Fragmented Sleep
Shortened sleep duration is considered having below 7 hours of quality sleep each night. This could be contributed to going to bed too late or it could be caused by fragmented sleep.
Fragmented sleep can be caused by self-observable situations such as the need to use the restroom, hunger pains, insomnia, or a bed partner that snores or is restless. But, your sleep can also be fragmented unnoticeably by what are called “micro-arousals” – a brief awakening that disturbs your body at the neurological level, disrupting a healthy sleep cycle. Micro-arousals occur when your body’s alarm system goes off due to a lack of sufficient oxygen levels in the brain.
Wouldn’t I notice an alarm going off in my body every night?
Actually, many people don’t notice the alarms themselves while sleeping, but your body can give you clues to this happening if you don’t have a bed partner that is present to observe you snoring, stopping breathing, or gasping for air throughout the night.
Sleep breathing disorders (SBD), including Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), are the main cause for micro-arousals during sleep and is often undiagnosed by primary care physicians, Dr. Anthony Cannon said in a news release.1
Sleep fragmentation leading to sleep deprivation can make you feel fatigued during the day, but also incite hormonal changes2 that cause hunger, and can even shut down the thinking part of your brain3 (called the frontal lobe) leading to poor dietary choices!
What kind of recipe can be cooked up with these ingredients?
Sleep fragmentation/deprivation + Daytime fatigue + Cravings for carbs & junk food = OBESITY
To further my point, two meta-analyses showed that children with “shortened sleep” have a 56-89% increased risk of obesity. 4That is a tough statistic to swallow considering that Sleep Apnea and obesity are linked so closely to diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes5 6… the top killer diseases in America!
Naturopathic Doctor News & Review said:
Considering how commonly OSA goes untreated,
it should be considered a major public health priority.
… the least we can do is to identify those cases
that require airway-specific medical care
in addition to the naturopathic care we provide.7
FACT: If your sleep is fragmented throughout the night, you will never get that restorative sleep, no matter how many hours you try to sleep!8
Give our office in Citrus Heights a call to find out how we can treat the root cause of sleep-disordered breathing and help you on your path to achieving greater overall health. Dr. Darryl Azouz has been successfully treating children and adult patients through sleep medicine dentistry for many years and would love to see if we can make a difference in your life or the life of your loved one.
Sacramento Natural Dentistry
5414 Sunrise Blvd STE. F
Citrus Heights CA 95610
info@sacramentonaturaldentistry.com
- Dr. Anthony Cannon is the American Diabetes Association regional president for central and southern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey – https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=159279
- https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=159279
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201308/insomnia-increases-junk-food cravings
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3107702/
- https://obesitynewstoday.com/obesitycomorbidities/#:~:text=Most%20Frequent%20Obesity%20C omorbidities%201%20Diabetes.%20Excess%20weight,5%20Respiratory%20Conditions.%20…%206%20Metabolic%20 6Disorders.%20
- https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html
- https://ndnr.com/insomniasleep-medicine/sleep-disordered-breathing-an-under-recognized-cause-of chronic-disease-part-1/
- https://ndnr.com/insomniasleep-medicine/sleep-disordered-breathing-an-under-recognized-cause-of chronic-disease-part-1/