We would lose weight while sleeping. Here is an urban legend, whose origin we do not really know, but which is perhaps due to the fact that we practice a forced fast every night. Because here it is: scientifically, there is nothing to establish that we lose weight in bed. On the other hand, as Parisian nutritionist Juliette Bentz-Farman explains: “we get fat when we are not sleeping. Numerous studies now allow us to observe that people who sleep less or less well have a BMI vastly superior to others. ” Alright, but how does it work?
Lack of sleep disrupts your hormones
As often, our propensity to gain weight is linked to a form of stress. Not really psychic stress, moreover, but rather the stress created on the body by a lack of sleep: “we then start to secrete hormones which will cause us to store as much as possible”, explains Juliette Bentz-Farman. “Result: with the same diet, we gain more weight than someone who sleeps well.”
The hormonal imbalance caused by a lack of sleep does not stop there: “The leptin, the satiety hormone, which makes us full, no longer does its job at all, and the ghrelin, which makes you hungry, is overproduced. “ No need to make a table for you, so: the less you sleep, the more you eat. And not just at mealtimes.
Solving a weight problem also means solving a sleep problem
Invariably, Juliette Bentz-Farman asks her patients about their sleeping habits from the first consultation: “I even do it before talking about their eating behavior “, she specifies. And for those who are satisfied with 4 or 5 hours of sleep, his remark is always the same: “I tell them it’s a shame, becauseit would suffice if they slept an hour or two more for one or two kilos to go off on their own. As it is, their body will resist because it wants to store it, and the dietary restrictions will be more severe. “
But it’s not all a question of duration. If you want to sleep better and you do not suffer from a proven sleep pathology, the expert also advises you “to limit screen time, to sleep in the dark to avoid variations in light that disturb the brain and to stop drinking a good hour and a half before bedtime. Because you are going to get up too often to go to the bathroom . “
And in terms of food? “So it seems counterintuitive when you want to lose weight, but to sleep well, you have to eat starchy foods in the evening. Because if the body does not have its good dose of sugar before bedtime, it will start to secrete it on its own. In addition, do not hesitate to eat vegetables and a little chocolate in the evening to relax before dark. “ A night at the end of which you will have to eat protein: “quite simply because swallowed in the morning, they will allow the body to produce enough melatonin, the sleep hormone, to sleep better.” And therefore better to lose weight!
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