Maladies of Sleep Depravation

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Maladies of Sleep Depravation

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When we deprive ourselves of sleep, there is a delicate cycle

that we disrupt. Let us now share with you that cycle...

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1085 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2008-01-02 10:24:00

Written By: Hugo A

Copyright: 2008

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Maladies of Sleep Depravation

Copyright © 2008 Hugo A

Body RE-Engineering

http://www.losefatandgainmuscle.com

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: s, 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 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.losefatandgainmuscle.com

or his personal website at http://www.hugorivera.net