Poor sleep and weight gain

How many hours of quality sleep do you get each night? Not getting the right amount of sleep has been shown to lead to weight gain in both men and women. The reason? The length of time you sleep can affect the hormones that regulate hunger and appetite. In addition, when you don’t get enough sleep, you feel sluggish and tired, which leads to decreased physical activity. But, quality of sleep is just as important as the quantity of sleep.

Quality sleep is uninterrupted sleep that includes both REM and non-REM. REM stands for rapid eye movement.

This is the type of sleep responsible for stimulating the areas of the brain responsible for learning. Recent studies have shown people who are deprived of REM sleep have a difficult time remembering what they were taught before they went to sleep. As you sleep, the brain cycles through five different phases or stages. Phases 1-4 include non-REM sleep patterns that contribute to helping the body and brain feel rested and energetic — this is 75 percent of your sleep. The other 25 percent is REM sleep and phase 5. This is the phase that contributes to memory and learning. REM sleep is also the time when dreaming occurs. So how much quality sleep do you need each night? Adults need 7-9 hours; 14-17 years old, 8-10; 6-13 years old, 9-11; and 3-5 years old, 10-13.

There are some things you can do if you are having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night.

• Avoid caffeine — Did you know it can take up to eight hours for caffeine to fully leave your system?

• Temperature control — Keeping your bedroom at a cooler temperature can help to regulate sleep.

• Avoid late big meals — Eating a lot of food late at night can lead to indigestion.

• Turn it off — Bright lights, the television, cell phone, computer and tablet can make your brain think it is time to be awake.

• Keep a schedule — Going to bed and waking up around the same time each day helps your body get into a sleep routine.

• Exercise — Daily exercise promotes sleep, but be sure not to exercise within two or three hours of your bedtime.

• Avoid alcohol at bedtime — Drinking alcohol before you go to sleep can interrupt both REM and non-REM sleep, and it can cause you to wake-up throughout the night.

Having one bad night of sleep is not going to lead to a larger waistline, but consistently being sleep deprived can. For more information on sleep and your health, contact the Garland County Extension Office at 623-6841, email Jessica at jvincent@uaex.edu, or visit the Arkansas EHC website at http://www.arextensionhomemakers.org. Also, visit the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/sleep/pages/default.aspx.

EHC

Interested in joining an existing Extension Homemakers Club? EHC is the largest volunteer organization in the state. For information, call 623-6841 or email jvincent@uaex.edu.

Master Gardeners

If interested in becoming a Master Gardener and would like information, the public is welcome to attend the monthly meeting at 1 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Elks Lodge; call the Extension office at 623-6841 or 922-4703; or email abates@uaex.edu. 4-H

There are 4-H clubs for Garland County youths 5 to 19 years old. For information, call the Extension Office or email Linda Bates at lbates@uaex.edu.