According to recent studies, a sufficient amount of sleep at an optimal time for a particular person affects not only well-being, but also the hormonal background.
As it turned out, in men, the duration of sleep plays a significant role in the production of the hormone testosterone that is most important for them. It is necessary to take into account when organizing the daily regimen and the chronotype of a person. As you know, there are people - "larks" and people - "owls". This implies a natural surge of energy in the morning or evening. In addition to testosterone, the duration and sleep pattern also affect other hormones that are associated with it.
It also affects body composition and insulin metabolism. Similar results, but with slight variations in hormonal response, scientists were able to record in studies conducted among women.
Experiment
Doctors found out, having recently conducted an experiment, that if a man’s sleep regimen corresponded to his chronotype, then the test person’s blood testosterone level was higher than those who did not take into account their natural tendencies. So, male “owls, ” who had to get up earlier, had lower levels of testosterone in their blood. As a result, scientists recommend that people go to bed when their body tells them to sleep as much as they need for a good rest. It is very harmful, according to researchers, to disrupt the current regime of the day. It is better to avoid sudden changes and adhere to the same schedule throughout the week, if possible.
Another study showed that insufficiently prolonged sleep, or sleep during unnatural times for a person, affects all hormones, which is important for body composition. The effect of sleep restriction on young healthy men was studied. For five consecutive nights, people could only sleep for four hours.
conclusions
After analyzing the results, the researchers concluded that even a few days, during which there was a lack of sleep, slightly lowered testosterone levels in the subjects. But the average level of cortisol, called the stress hormone, increased by 15.5 percent. Also, 3.2 percent higher levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Its production is associated with cortisol.
It turned out that in case of violations of normal conditions for sleep (deprivation) in the people participating in the study, the response of blood sugar was disturbed after breakfast. Insulin, on the other hand, was one third higher.
We discovered other amazing phenomena. So, the level of leptin increased. This hormone dulls hunger. And the level of triglycerides decreased. For health in general, this could be good, especially if you take into account the long term. But, as it turned out, during sleep deprivation, the hypothalamus-pituitary axis is dysregulated, which is responsible for normal levels of hormones, feelings of hunger and energy. Therefore, a long-term effect on these biomarkers will subsequently affect health very negatively.
It is also possible that leptin and triglyceride levels became better as a result of the conditions in which the experiment was conducted. The subjects could eat only the food that was given to them, and only at the time that was established.
According to other studies of sleep deprivation, when subjects ate what they wanted, the emaciated state of people pushed them to consume high-fat foods, which contained large amounts of sugar. In total, they ate 300 calories more than under normal conditions.
Based on the results of these studies, we can conclude that in order to maintain health it is necessary to know your chronotype and not to conflict with it in the daily regimen. Every night you should go to bed at the same time. Within the same week, it is advisable not to change the schedule.
