What Else Does Exhaustion Do to You?by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger 15 Dec 2007 11:39 AM A few days ago, I took a good look at myself and how being tired changes me. I get cranky, I get over-emotional, I eat more, and I get clumsy. And I'm not alone. Research has looked at how your body changes when you're low on sleep.
- Sleep deprivation makes you crave junk food. Your body will be craving more calories than you actually need -- especially in the form of sugars and starches. Just two nights of sleep deprivation makes your body produce more hunger hormones and fewer appetite suppressing hormones.
- Sleep deprivation makes your stress hormones spike. Cortisol is the stress hormone in your body, and it spikes in the afternoon and evening in people who are sleep deprived. The spike comes at a bad time -- like when you should be winding down for the day -- and sends your heart rate and blood pressure up.
- Sleep deprivation makes you insulin resistant. Just six days of sleep deprivation makes your body less able to process glucose. People who regularly sleep less than six hours per night are often not able to metabolize sugar properly.
- Sleep deprivation makes your mind less sharp. After just ONE restless night, your reaction time is slower. That makes driving and other activities more dangerous. (That explains why I kept burning myself during that glass class!)
- Sleep deprivation makes your mood take a nosedive. Chronically tired people tend to be less happy. That's because sleep and mood are regulated in the brain by some of the same chemicals!
- Sleep deprivation makes your immune system weaker. Do you tend to get sick when you're over-reaching yourself? If you go just ten days without getting enough sleep, your body produces C-reactive protein -- an inflammation marker linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some autoimmune diseases. A study looked at people who received the flu shot; those who were sleep deprived developed half as many antibodies as folks who were well rested.
exhaustion, immune system, sleep deprivation, stress, stress hormones
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