Not sleeping enough can make you fat
Eat slowly
Research presented at a recent American Heart Association meeting has found that eating quickly expands your waistline and increases heart disease risk. According to obesity expert Dr Giles Yeo, eating too quickly means you’re not leaving enough time for your gut to release hormones signalling to the brain that you’re full. So hunger continues and you keep on eating.
Avoid ‘empty’ calories
Empty calories are sugary foods that make you gain weight, but don’t make you feel full. Fizzy drinks and fruit juices deliver large concentrations of sugar to the gut so quickly and easily that your intestines barely register it’s hit them. Proteins and complex carbs, like beans, wholegrains, nuts and leafy vegetables, take longer to break down – so they’re in your gut longer and produce lasting ‘fullness’ feelings.
Don’t eat alone
Recent research published in a leading obesity journal found that men who eat alone at least twice a day increase their risk of developing obesity. The link seems to be less clear in women. This follows other studies indicating that loneliness can increase the likelihood of making unhealthy food choices.
Consider your crockery
Headline-grabbing studies have suggested that plate size, shape and colour, as well as cutlery size and weight, can affect how much you eat. Health experts continue to debate the merits of these findings. But there is little doubt that large portions contribute to weight gain, and an analysis in the British Medical Journal recommended smaller tableware.
Grab some sleep
More than 50 studies have looked into a possible link between sleep loss and weight gain, and recent reviews of the evidence have concluded that there is an association in both adults and children. Lack of sleep seems to disrupt the way we regulate hormones and metabolise glucose, and can cause increases in the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite.