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Exercise Improves Sleep Quality

People who sleep less weigh more. According to Men's Health (4/05), men and women who average only six hours of sleep each night are 23 percent more likely to be overweight than those who sleep for seven to nine hours.

Researchers have found that exercisers go to sleep more quickly, sleep more soundly and are more refreshed than individuals who do not exercise.

One study suggests a function of sleep is to restore a cerebral cortex fatigued by consciousness.

In another sleep study, Stanford University researchers reported that with less than 8 hrs. of sleep, ghrelin, a hormone related to appetite, rose. Higher levels of ghrelin triggers hunger, leading to increased food consumption. Additionally, a hormone called leptin is shown to decrease with less than 8 hrs. of sleep. Leptin is a hormone which suppresses appetite.

Another sleep deprivation study conducted at the University of Chicago suggests that lack of sleep boosts appetite, especially for sweets and other high-carbohydrate foods.

If you engage in moderate exercise daily you will enhance your body's ability to fall into deep & restful sleep.

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