Sleep More, Lose Weight
June 19, 2009
Health care reform is making big news now, and from what I’ve gleaned from the press, it’s a mess. I’m not too optimistic about any solutions. There are too many interests involved and no one wants to give an inch.
However, with all the studies coming out showing the benefits of more sleep, I have a suggestion for Mr. Obama: Have a national sleep more month, where everyone in the country makes a commitment to sleep 30 to 60 minutes more every night for one month. There are studies showing that better sleep improves everything from energy levels, to weight loss, to improved memory and cognition, and lower blood pressure and glucose levels.
In the February issue of Glamour Magazine, I was quoted in an article where they had overweight women volunteer to change one thing for 10 weeks: sleep 7 1/2 hours every night. Women who stuck to the plan lost anywhere from 6 to 15 pounds automatically, without doing anything else differently.
Imagine if they continued this regimen for one year. Imagine if everyone in the US followed this regimen. There would be much lower levels of high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, and heart disease. Think of the billions of dollars in health care savings, just from sleeping a little longer every night.
For those of you that get stressed even thinking about this, think again. You may be thinking that you’ll lose valuable time by sleeping more. What you may not realize is that by sleeping longer, you’ll be much more clear-headed, more energetic, and much more productive.
It’s 10 PM now. I’m going to bed.
2 Responses to “Sleep More, Lose Weight”
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I’d love to follow your suggestion and sleep more, but I can’t even fall asleep most nights and if I do, I only sleep about 4 hours and wake up.
This is ruining my life. I use my cpap every night and still don’t sleep.
Any ideas?
Joanne, my comments were for the general public who don’t sleep long enough, but if you have a sleep-breathing problem, then this recommendation won’t apply. Your situation is very common, and by working with your doctors and DME vendor, there are systematic steps that you can take to improve the quality of your sleep. If you’ve exhausted all your CPAP options, then there are other options as well. If you haven’t done so already, check out some of the resources on this site. In August, I’m having the president of a DME company as a guest on my expert interview show where we’ll talk about ways of improving CPAP usage. Good luck.