Health Tip of the Week, sponsored by Baton Rouge General: Sleep may be the key to losing weight

A recent study found that sleep duration affects the hormones ghrelin and leptin, which regulate hunger. Leptin is secreted in fat cells and helps the brain signal when it is getting full. Ghrelin is secreted in the stomach and stimulates hunger. Not getting enough sleep prohibits the body’s ability to process insulin, the hormone needed to process sugar, starches, and other food into energy. If the body doesn’t respond to insulin properly, it doesn’t process fat from the bloodstream and ends up storing it instead. Adults who get less than seven hours of sleep a night are at a 40% greater risk of obesity than those with longer sleep patterns. Learn more about how sleep can affect your weight.