Why Sleep Keeps Your Fat Cells "Full"

by Sarah Jio, Glamour

What if I told you that a certain habit of yours could be feeding your body's fat cells, leading to weight gain? It might be happening to you if you do this...

You already know that not getting enough sleep can be bad to your health and lead to weight gain, but wait until you hear just how bad it can get. A small study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago determined that college students who slept no more than 4.5 hours a night for four consecutive nights had big problems in the fat cell department.

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Basically, their fat cells got sluggish and were 30 percent less responsive to insulin. What does that mean, exactly? When your cells become insulin-resistant, it signals to your body to release certain hormones that tell your cells to soak up excess sugar in the body and store them in your fat cells. Yeah, not good. So, essentially, sleep deprivation makes your fat cells really hungry.

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"It's the equivalent of metabolically aging these students by as much as 20 years," said study co-author Matthew Brady, a molecular medicine researcher at the University of Chicago.
So who wants to try get a great night's sleep tonight? Me!

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