Just when you thought that the importance of sleep couldn't be stated more strongly, a new study appears. If you didn't know it already....sleep loss is cumulative (that's means it adds up over time). A new study published by The Endocrine Society shows that just 30 minutes of sleep debt a day can have dramatic effects on body weight and metabolism. Just 30 minutes of sleep loss a day increases the body's resistance to insulin and raises the risk of obesity by a WHOPPING 72% ! There are lots of questions that arise from this. Such as, is the effect on metabolism and weight gain due to the fatigue that sets in during sleep debt? Lets be honest, when we are tired we tend to eat poorly. Who wants to eat a heaping bowl of steamed broccoli when we're tired. More like a heaping bowl of macaroni and cheese. We are just now uncovering how insidious lack of sleep can be. What I can tell you is that none of the findings tell us to get less sleep or that the effects of the lack of sleep are beneficial. Although we don't necessarily need the 8 hours of sleep they once recommended, 7 hours seems to be the critical point for many of us.
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