Fix Your Sleep + Everything Else Will Follow!

It's crazy that so many people still don't think sleep is associated with their weight, their mood, their appetite...everything. Well we're here to tell you IT IS! Research is suggesting even small reductions of sleep can have a negative effect on metabolism. In adults, a reduction is linked to increased hunger and appetite. It seems that the foods that we crave in particular are high carbs foods. Observations studies also suggest there are links between sleep restriction and obesity. This is not only in studies with adults but with children and teens too. Once again we find that our humble little hormones might have something to do with this as well. Grehlin and leptin are our hunger and appetite surprising hormones. It looks like the better our quality of sleep, the better our leptin, the hormone that says ‘we have had enough to eat’ works better. We all know that lack of sleep leads to poor work or academic performance, low energy, and less physical activity.

Five things you can do to improve your sleep.

1. Drop hidden sugars from your diet. They make you wired at first, them tired and it becomes a vicious roller coaster of tired but wired.
2. Avoid caffeine after midday. Yes, you can have a cuppa but not after midday if you want to go into deep, beauty sleep.
3. Eat protein through the day. Protein breaks down to an amino acid, trypophan, which converts to melatonin- our sleep hormone.
4. Eat magnesium rich food like lots of greens and seeds and nuts - magnesium is nutritionally the great calmer.
5. Get a Sleep routine. Go to be the same time every night. No digital or screen lights two hours before bed. No water or liquids after 7 to make you wake to go to the toilet.

  SOURCES Bray GA. Obesity in adults: Etiology and natural history. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed April 10, 2018. Taveras EM, et al. Chronic sleep curtailment and adiposity. Pediatrics. 2014;133:1013. Hart CN, et al. Changes in children's sleep duration on food intake, weight, and leptin. Pediatrics. 2013;132:e1473.