Logically, one would think that getting 8 or more hours of sleep would put you in the low activity category and you’d be at risk for obesity. The opposite is true. Pulling an all-nighter might help you get your work done but it won’t create a calorie deficit. Cortisol is a hormone which under normal circumstances aids in the fight or flight reaction that your body has to sudden stressful situations. It causes digestion and other body functions to postpone their activity in favor of stepping up your heart rate, breathing and muscle strength. And if your lack of sleep is due to chronic stress, then your body is producing more cortisol than it should. Unfortunately, prolonged elevated levels of cortisol can affect the body negatively. When cortisol is up, just one of those negative effects is blood sugar levels increase and your body’s response is to store more abdominal fat. You may think that you only require 5 or 6 hours of sleep per night and function fine but let me tell you what 8 hours can do for you.

There are two hormones which affect your appetite : ghrelin which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates appetite, and leptin which is produced in fat cells and signals the brain when you are full. When your body is allowed a full night’s sleep, ghrelin levels decrease and leptin levels increase. The cortisol levels are able to return to normal as well. Metabolism is affected positively by the absence of these hormonal gyrations. Since there are no health benefits of sleepless marathons, isn’t it worth it to get a good night’s sleep?