“How am I gaining all this weight?”

Have you experienced weight gain recently? Are you surprised that you are putting on weight? Do you sleep well, or do you find yourself having problems sleeping and are constantly tired?

Even the most careful calorie counter needs to exercise regularly and it’s hard to get much exercise when you are constantly feeling tired. Of course, putting on weight is not just a matter of exercise; it’s down to how much you eat and what you eat, too. It’s easy to eat comfort food when you are tired!

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How well you sleep affects your weight

Sleep disorders and weight gain are both related. When it’s hard to get enough sleep, it’s much easier to experience weight gain. Unfortunately, the more surplus fat you have, the worse some sleep disorders can be, especially sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that occurs when you can’t breathe properly at night and keep waking up, often suddenly, gasping for breath. The lack of sleep makes you tired all day. Sleep apnea is caused by several different factors, but when you put on weight it can make it more difficult to breathe and you might find yourself snoring more, too.

Patients are often unaware of their own sleep problems but significant others often notice snoring, pauses in breathing or restles sleep.  When your deep sleep is disturbed it can do a lot more than just make you tired or result in poor concentration.  Poor sleep can wreak havoc on your endocrine systems.  Growth Hormone is produrced almost entirely during your first epoch of Delta Sleep.  If you wake because of apnea or hpopnea it halts all production of Growth Hormone.  In children Growth Hormone makes you grow taller, in adults it drives production of muscle from fat stores; without growth hormone you just produce more fat.

Poor sleep alters insulin resistance and can lead to hyperglycemia, increased hunger and snacking and less effective utilization of sugars leading to weight gain.

Thyroid hormone production also ocurs during sleep, poor sleep can recue thyroid hormone levels leading to slower metabolism and weight gain.  Changes in estrogen and testosterone levels can also change muscle mass.  Higher levels of testosterone tend to increase muscle and decrease fat.

As you gain more weight the sleep apnea gets worse and your sleep is more disturbed. You have even less energy to exercise, so the vicious cycle of poor eating, lack of sleep and no exercise continues unabated. You have a number of issues to address before you can get your life back to normal so that you can eat well, sleep well and exercise well.

Ditch your diet for dentistry

You can help to solve this problem by monitoring what you eat, but another avenue you might want to explore is to look for a dental solution. We can fit an appliance into your mouth that will allow you to breathe more easily. There are several devices which are used for those with sleep apnea.

When one consideres sleep apnea as a decrease in oxygenation it is similar to having a dirty carburetor on your car.  Without enough oxygen fuel is burned inefficiently and turns to fat.

They all help by adjusting the position of the tongue in your mouth. By moving the tongue into a more suitable position, the airway down into your lungs will be clearer and you will breathe more easily. The improvement in the quality of your breathing will mean better quality sleep will take place and you will have more energy to exercise.

Get back to sleep and lose the pounds

Before you come to us for a dental solution you should get a health evaluation to assure yourself that there are no underlying health issues causing your sleep and weight problems.

If it is discovered that you are suffering from a sleep disorder like sleep apnea, then we can help you to get back to sleep and lose the pounds by improving your breathing with a modern, dental device.

When your sleep better you tend to be more active during the day and burn off far more calories than when your chronically tired.

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