No, taking a half-hour nap is not an acceptable replacement for 30 minutes on the elliptical. However, sleep seems to play a critical role in helping the body maintain a healthy weight.
I found this startling study referenced on the National Sleep Foundation website:
"A 1999 study at the University of Chicago showed that restricting sleep to just 4 hours per night for a week brought healthy young adults to the point that some had the glucose and insulin characteristics of diabetics. Such sleep restriction may have been a bit extreme, but it is also not altogether uncommon in our society and is a pattern deemed the "royal route to obesity" by Eve Van Cauter, PhD, who conducted the Chicago study."
In addition, quality sleep is essential for the production of the hormones leptin and ghrelin, both linked to appetite control. You can read more about this in this WebMD article. If you find yourself insatiably hungry, take a look at your sleep habits.
Sleep for Heart Health
Sleep also seems to have an important role is heart health, particularly in women. MayoClinic.com had this great article about Sleep Deprivation and Blood Pressure. One of the studies cited, published in 2007, followed 10,300 adults for 5 years. Women who got six hours of sleep per night were 42 percent more likely to develop hypertension than women who slept seven hours per night.
Check back for more helpful sleeping tips later this week!
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