Maladies of Sleep Depravation
Hugo A Rivera
The Sleep Cycle
When we deprive ourselves of sleep, there is a delicate cycle
that we disrupt. Let us now share with you that cycle:
Phase one begins as soon as the sun sets, when the pineal gland
starts to release melatonin, a hormone released in the absence of
light and responsible for making us sleepy. When you lay down in
your bed at this time, your muscles relax, heart rate and
breathing slow down, and body temperature drops. The brain also
relaxes but still remains alert. If you could look at the wave
patterns being generated by the brain, you would see a change
from the rapid beta waves of daytime to slower alpha waves. When
the alpha waves disappear, replaced by theta waves, the sleeper
has tumbled into the sensory void called stage one sleep. In this
stage, the sleeper is unable to sense anything.
Phase Two: Phase two occurs a moment after phase one and in this
stage the sleeper lays still for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Phase Three: After Phase two is over, the sleeper falls into a
deeper sleep. During this stage, the sleeper falls deeper into
phase three which lasts about 5 to 15 minutes.
Phase Four: With a maximum of 15 minutes spent within the phase
three cycle, the sleeper then falls into yet another relaxed
stage called phase four, lasting a half hour or so. In stage
four, the eyes move back and forth very quickly in what's called
rapid eye movement, or REM. This is the point at which the first
dream occurs. After this dream has ended, the sleeper then goes
right back to phase two and starts the whole process over again.
These processes repeat themselves about five times during the
night.
Sleep research indicates through studies that the average sleeper
will sleep approximately 8 hours and fifteen minutes when
uninterrupted. During this research, there were no alarm clocks
or disturbing noises to interrupt normal sleep patterns. 8 hours
and fifteen minutes is believed to be the ideal physiological
amount of time that the body requires for proper sleep time.
Maladies Caused By Sleep Deprivation
The following are the maladies that according to research can be
the result of consistent sleep deprivation: Impaired glucose
tolerance: Without sleep, the central nervous system becomes more
active, something that inhibits the pancreas from producing
adequate insulin, the hormone the body needs to digest glucose.
"In healthy young men with no risk factor, in one week, we had
them in a pre-diabetic state," says researcher Van Cauter when
referring to a study that he conducted on the effects of sleep
depravation.
Possible link to obesity: This is due to the fact that much of
people's growth hormone is secreted during the first round of
deep sleep. As both men and women age, they naturally spend less
time in deep sleep, which reduces growth hormone secretion. Lack
of sleep at a younger age, however, could drive down growth
hormone prematurely, accelerating as a result the fat-gaining
process. In addition, there is also research that indicates a
lowering of the hormone testosterone as well, something that
would also make the gaining of fat and the loss of muscle and
easy thing for the body to do.
Increased carbohydrate cravings: This is due to the fact that
sleep depravation negatively affects the production of a hormone
called Leptin. This hormone is responsible for telling the body
when it is full. However, with decreased production of this
hormone, your body will crave calories (especially in the forms
of carbs) even though its requirements have been met. Not a good
situation to be in for a dieter.
Weakened immune system: Research indicates that sleep deprivation
affects adversely the white blood cell count in humans as well as
the body's ability to fight infections.
Increased risk of getting breast cancer: Richard Stevens, a
cancer researcher at the University of Connecticut Health Center,
has speculated that there might be a connection between the
epidemic of breast cancer and hormone cycles disrupted by
late-night light. Melatonin, primarily secreted at night, may
trigger a reduction in the body's production of estrogen. But
light interferes with melatonin release (recall that the hormone
is secreted in response to a lack of light), allowing estrogen
levels to rise. Too much estrogen is known to promote the growth
of breast cancers.
Decreased alertness and ability to focus: A recent study showed
that people who were awake for up to 19 hours scored worse on
performance tests and alertness scales than those with a
blood-alcohol level of .08 percent-legally drunk in some states.
Hardening of the arteries: Some studies suggest that the stress
imposed on the body due to lack of sleep causes such a very sharp
rise in cortisol levels. Such an imbalance can lead to hardening
of the arteries, something that can cause a heart attack. In
addition, we also know that very high cortisol levels lead to
muscle loss, increased fat storage, loss of bone mass, cause
depression, cause hypertension, cause insulin resistance (the
cells in the body lose the ability to accept insulin), and lower
growth hormone and testosterone production.
Depression and irritability: Lack of sleep also causes depletion
of neurotransmitters in the brain that are in charge of
regulating mood. Because of this, sleep deprived people have a
"shorter fuse" and also tend to get depressed more easily.
Conclusion
So there you have it boys and girls, you need 7 - 9 hours of
sleep (8 being the ideal) each night in order for your body to
run efficiently. Deprive your body of sleep and you'll have
lousy fat loss. As a bonus, you also get muscle loss which lowers
your metabolism. The reason for this is because without enough
sleep the body stops producing anabolic hormones (Muscle
Producing/Fat Burning Hormones; e.g. Testosterone and Growth
hormone) and starts increasing the production of catabolic
hormones (Muscle Destroying/Fat Depositing Hormones e.g.
Cortisol). Also, you will lack the energy and focus to get
through your workouts and it will also lead to overtraining as
you won't be able to recover anymore. To top it off, there is
research that indicates that a lack of sleep creates cravings and
binges in addition to hardening of the arteries which leads to
heart attacks. If you don't think that you have enough time to
sleep, then turn off the TV and make the time!
If your interested in more information about my complete Body
Body Building & Fat Loss Program check out
www.losefatandgainmuscle.com
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Hugo Rivera CFT, ISSN, SPN, BSCE. is a lifetime natural
bodybuilder, a multi certified personal trainer, and a
best selling author with a successful franchise of books
called "The Body Sculpting Bibles" which collectively have
sold over a million copies worldwide. Hugo is also the author
of the "Body Re-Engineering" system which teaches you how to
gain lean muscle mass and get lean without drugs, or expensive
supplements. For more information visit http://www.losefatandgainmuscl
or his personal website at http://www.hugorivera.net
