January 23rd, 2012
As if the health benefits that sleep brings were not enough motivation to get plenty of “shut-eye”, a good seven or eight hours every night could also help you avoid Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome weight gain.
Researchers found that people who slept for less than six hours a night – or more than nine – put on more weight than those who slept for seven or eight hours each night.
The study, published, appropriately enough, in the journal Sleep, found those who did not get enough sleep gained almost 4.4lbs compared to those who slept for the recommended number of hours over a period of six years.
Those who had too much sleep gained 3.5lbs more than those who slept for the recommended number of hours. Short-sleepers were 27% more likely to become obese and long sleepers were 21% more likely to take the same path than those who had an average night’s sleep.
The reason that the amount of sleep a person gets can govern their weight is because sleep affects hormone levels, especially those involved in appetite and feeling full after a meal.
Research leader Jean-Philippe Chaput, of Laval University in Quebec, Canada, said: “Our study provides evidence that both short and long-sleeping times predict an increased risk of future body weight and fat gain in adults.”
Sleep experts say the chances of getting a good night’s rest increase if you go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even at weekends, and set a relaxing routine before getting into bed such as having a bath or reading.
Watching television in bed is not recommended and it is best to avoid stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and exercise in the evening. If you have trouble getting to sleep, it is best to get up and do something relaxing like reading until you feel ready for sleep.
A regular exercise regime combined with a balanced, nutritious PCOS diet can improve sleep patterns and help reverse an underlying cause of excess weight and obesity, namely the imbalance of blood glucose and insulin called Insulin Resistance. By reversing this latter condition, you can facilitate PCOS weight loss.
October 21st, 2011
More and more horror stories are coming to light about the bizarre effects that some heavily-advertised sleep aids can have on people.
One woman, for example, took a leading brand just before going to bed and then woke up to find herself fully-dressed at work in the middle of the night, having driven several miles with absolutely no memory of her actions.
Sticking to a balanced, nutritious Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) diet is much less risky, as well as being the best way to provide all-day energy for work and play to set you up for a good night’s sleep. Begin with a healthy breakfast that keeps blood sugar levels on an even keel so your energy levels don’t crash mid-morning.
Limit your intake of refined carbs like sugary cereals and try to eat meals and snacks that contain protein to help temper the quick uptake of carbohydrates in your bloodstream. Avoid Danish pastries in favor of a small yogurt with an apple for a mid-morning snack and a handful of nuts with some dried fruit in the middle of the afternoon.
Skip foods like left-over pizza and ice-cream at the best of times if you don’t want to gain weight, but especially anywhere near the time you go to bed. They can keep you awake and rob you of energy in the morning by making you feel sluggish, like a food hangover.
It’s important to avoid becoming dehydrated. If you don’t drink enough fluid, it can make you lethargic during the day and interrupt natural sleep patterns at night. The Institute of Medicine recommends 9 cups of fluid each day for women and 13 for men.
Control you caffeine habit. Coffee is fine in moderation but try tea in the afternoon and evening to lower your caffeine intake while still getting a lift.
As well as affecting your general health, sleep deprivation is also being increasingly linked to PCOS weight gain because tired women tend to eat more and exercise less than rested people. So get a good night’s sleep and you could find those extra pounds beginning to disappear.
October 4th, 2011
Always strive for a balance when it comes to working out. An exercise regime that features short but intense workouts and mild sessions of longer duration will generally help you achieve PCOS fitness goals more safely.
One way to mix them up is to include 30-second intervals of intense activity (such as a sprint) followed by a minute or two of exercise like walking at your normal pace. Then add another intense interval but only do three of these in total at first to give your body a chance to adapt.
As you get in better shape, you can increase the intense spells, which will help improve your speed, strength and maximum capacity. That latter phrase means the ability to perform more activity before feeling tired while building muscle and bone strength.
Naturally, more vigorous forms of exercise like running will strengthen your heart and lungs more quickly. But don’t get too ambitious. Remember that moderate exercise has its place because it will improve the function of your cardiovascular system and build your endurance.
Too much too soon also greatly increases your odds of injury, which will mess with your Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) fitness plans in more ways than one. You can never be too careful because exercise, while greatly beneficial, has an inherent risk for injury. The greater the intensity, the greater the risk.
Always allow for plenty of recovery time to avoid overtraining and suffering chronic injuries to joints and muscles. Before you can exercise at a challenging pace, you have to work up to it to derive maximum benefit.
Regular exercise and a balanced, nutritious PCOS diet are crucial factors in avoiding excess weight and obesity, now at epidemic levels in the U.S. An underlying factor in obesity is often the reversible imbalance of blood glucose and insulin called Insulin Resistance.
September 29th, 2011
Large numbers of Americans are resorting to unhealthy habits like overeating in order to cope with stress. Their response to feeling under pressure also includes a lack of exercise. This lethargy is creating further health problems such as excess Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) weight gain and obesity, which, in turn, increase stress levels.
A survey of 2,000 adults by the American Psychological Association (APA) reported that 47% of participants said they were concerned about levels of stress in their lives.
Women were more likely than men to say they were affected by stress. Both men and women who were experiencing stress were less likely to say they were in good health and reported higher rates of obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure) and depression.
Women under stress said they felt nervous, wanted to cry or felt drained of energy. Men reported trouble sleeping and feeling angry or irritable. About one third of women said they turned to food for comfort and roughly a quarter of the men said the same. Those who did seek comfort in food were twice as likely as the average American to be diagnosed with obesity, said researchers.
If left unchecked, obesity can lead to the cluster of cardiovascular diseases called Metabolic Syndrome (Syndrome X), which is a significantly increased risk factor for heart attacks and stroke. Obesity can also be an underlying case of reversible Pre-Diabetes, which, if neglected, may develop into Type 2 Diabetes. This latter disorder can only be managed for the rest of the victim’s lifetime and raises the risk of blindness, amputation and severe kidney disease.
“What’s surprising and alarming is the fact that too many people weren’t taking active steps to do anything about the stress they’re feeling,” said Russ Newman of the APA.”People don’t really appreciate how detrimental stress is, and the ways they’re trying to manage stress can be as detrimental, if not more so.”
Participants who reported higher stress levels were more likely to smoke and less likely to exercise, which might relieve their feeling of stress in the short term but would exacerbate it in the long run, said researchers.
Such habits are hard to break, however, says Tajita Sinha, Director of the Research Program on Stress, Addiction and Psychopathology at Yale University School of Medicine. When a person is stressed, the need to feel better “takes precedence over impulse control,” said Dr. Sinha. “We tend to choose a response based on what we know, based on habit. We will be looking for things that calm us down but they may not be the best thing for us.”
Various forms of stress release the steroid cortisol and this process may result in severe weight gain, quite aside from eating fattening, high carbohydrate “comfort” food.
Insulin sensitivity decreases after certain stressful experiences such as work-related mental and emotional pressure. As glucose levels in the body rise, they stimulate increased insulin production, which has a number of negative effects. In particular, it raises levels of noradrenalin, a stress response hormone released under conditions of emotional upset, which, in turn, can induce Insulin Resistance. This latter disorder is a reversible imbalance of glucose and insulin in the bloodstream, which can become an underlying cause of PCOS weight gain and obesity.
Insulin Resistance and its side effects may promote the build-up of fat throughout the body as well as a rise in cholesterol and blood pressure levels and the formation of artery-blocking plaque.
Excess weight and obesity-linked Insulin Resistance also contributes to the development of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), the hormonal imbalance which is a major cause of female infertility, as well as skin conditions, excess facial and body hair and male pattern baldness in women.
But don’t despair! Switching to a balanced, nutritious diet can help reverse weight gain, while regular exercise has been proved to have a positive psychological effect on stress-related emotions as well as helping people to return to a healthy weight.
