The theory that you can lose weight while you're sleeping may sound like something from a dream but it is a genuine reality. If you're getting up at five in the morning in order to go to the gym, you may be missing a simple trick in your battle to lose weight – getting the right amount of sleep.
How does sleep effect weight?
Those getting between six and eight hours of sleep a night are twice as likely to reach their target weight than those who spend more or less time than that in bed. Sleep less than the required six hours and your stress levels increase at the same time as your cravings for unhealthy food. Sleep more than eight hours and your body can become too inactive and your metabolism can slow down, resulting in you ruining some of the good work you're doing in the gym.
Sleep deprivation increases a hormone called ghrelin, which in turn triggers appetite, as well as decreasing the hormone called leptin, which tells the brain when you're full. So even if you're losing an hour of sleep to pound the treadmill, you may not be shedding any more weight than if you were tucked up in bed.
It's all about finding a balance – weight-loss is certainly not helped by oversleeping. Sleeping more than eight hours a night results in your body's natural fat-burning abilities slowing down as your body burns less calories, not to mention significantly increasing chances of heart disease and other illnesses.
Lose Weight while you Sleep: The solutions
From old wives' tales to a variety of scientific studies, getting a good night’s sleep can be helped by a number of ways; be it having a mug of warm milk, sleeping on your back, doing more exercise, eating earlier in the evening, drinking less caffeine or waking up earlier in the morning. While those methods work for some people and fail for others, our range of supplements have been scientifically proven to help you maintain a healthy sleep cycle and maximise your ability to burn fat while you do.
5-HTP
It's possible for people's levels of serotonin to become lowered by stress or age. As well as being essential to a healthy sleep cycle, serotonin also helps combat mood swings, appetite, weight gain/loss and depression. Taking 5-HTP supplement ensures your body's serotonin levels are healthy, meaning you can start getting a good night's sleep.
Montmorency Cherry
Grown in France, Canada and the U.S, Montmorency cherries are a sour fruit that are jam-packed with anthocyanins, which are strong antioxidants with a number of health benefits, most notably helping sleep issues. As well as helping sleep, these cherries also combat gout, anxiety and a host of other medical problems. While it takes a lot of Montmorency cherries to get everything the body needs, our Primal Reds Red Fruits drink will help you get there.