Cortisol is a Douchebag

I have always been flippant about sleep.  I get enough to get me by and use the rest of the time to do useless tasks. Things like looking up the etymology of the word "mortgage" (which is actually pretty interesting) always win when the alternative is shutting off for the night.  

< 3 Ellen van Deelen

Monday I woke up feeling sluggish, sore, and irritable after a particularly poor night's sleep. What better opportunity to use my mad Google skills for good?  The results were unanimous: Sleep is incredibly necessary to the weight loss/muscle building process!  You are shooting yourself in the foot if you are trying to lose weight and not getting enough sleep. 

When you are sleeping your body is a playground for hormones.  Ghrelin, Leptin, Cortisol, Testosterone, Human Growth Hormone, and Insulin levels are all affected by the amount of quality sleep you are getting. 

• Ghrelin: I affectionately call this the "pacman hormone." It stimulates appetite! A lack of sleep causes a surge of it in your body, leading you to crave high carbohydrate or high calorie foods.
  
  
• Leptin: This tells your brain that you're full! A lack of sleep causes a depletion of this helpful hormone.  There are studies that imply people with sleep apnea are resistant to the fullness signal that Leptin sends to the brain. 
  
  
• Testosterone: The muscle building hormone! Sleep deprivation reduces testosterone levels making it difficult to build muscle. Every bodybuilding/muscle building resource I have tapped states that Testosterone is the most important hormone to building muscle.
  
  
• Human Growth Hormone (HGH): A lack of sleep limits the natural surge your body produces while you rest.  HGH is an amazingly helpful little guy.  He stimulates the immune system, increases protein synthesis, increases muscle mass through the creation of more muscle fibers,  increases calcium retention and strengthens bones, and stimulates growth in all internal organs (except the brain.)
  
  
• Insulin: Less sleep translates directly into higher insulin resistance.  This means your body has to compensate by releasing more insulin into your blood stream.  When you have excess insulin it can lead to increased fat storage, diabetes and heart disease!
  
  
• Cortisol:  If you were not convinced to sleep more before this point, get ready for our heavy-hitter. Cortisol is, for lack of a better term, a total jerk when you have too much of him around.  Cortisol is a catabolic stress hormone and is usually present when you are stressed and when you are sleep deprived, he gets bigger and badder.
  Cortisol increases abdominal fat storage, stimulates the breakdown of muscle tissue for use as energy, counteracts insulin, can weaken the activity of the immune system, can shut down the reproductive system leading to miscarriage or temporary infertility and increases blood pressure.  Long-term exposure to Cortisol damages brain cells that affect learning and memory retrieval. Honestly, I think of this guy looking like this.

Now, for the amount of time you should be sleeping, most studies I read were comparing people who got 5ish hours of sleep to those who got 7ish hours.  The difference in those two hours was vast.  It is important not to oversleep, too!  That can interrupt your natural circadian rhythm and make it harder for your to fall asleep. 

I also learned I can't weasel out of my 8 hours by "borrowing" an hour the next night.The full benefit of a good night's rest is achieved by sleeping for 7-8 hours and getting up/out of bed without hitting your snooze button.  Sleeping 5 hours tonight and 10 hours tomorrow is not going to give you the same benefits, unfortunately.


A quick tip before we end this sleep-talk: Your body temperature drops a couple degrees around 3pm which is to start the bed-time cycle.  If you're having trouble sleeping, try finding a way to reduce your body temperature.  A cool bath (not shower!!) or open window can actually do wonders for some insomnia sufferers!

Good Things Come in Green Packages

Yesterday was a challenge.  I wasn't able to do my first day of Week Two in Couch to 5k because I was SO TIRED.  I think I've been doing a little much lately and, combined with my gnarly sunburn, that made a totally grumpy, tired jerk.  So, I'll start week two tomorrow and today I'll make up for my bad/tired mood with a little brain exercise! 

One of my favorite foods of all time is broccoli.  I LOVE IT.  Like, if given the choice between a lifetime supply of fresh broccoli and a lifetime supply of pistachio ice cream, I will die a little inside as I choose broccoli.  It is a really versatile and amazing little veggie that happens to taste amazing and the flavor isn't the only reason I love it.

• 1) A cup of raw chopped broccoli is approximately 30 calories which, if based on a 2000 calorie diet is 1.5% of your calories for the day.  These 30 calories will also get you:
• 135% of your daily value of Vitamin C
• 116% of your daily value of Vitamin K
• 9% of your daily value for Fiber
• 8% of your daily value for Potassium
• 14% of your daily value for Folic Acid
• 11% of your daily value for Vitamin A
  
  
•  2) The phytonutrients in broccoli have significant anti-cancer benefits! Specifically, these nutrients work by inhibiting the estrogen metabolite that promotes tumor growth in cancerous breast cells and suppressing cancer cell metasis.
   
• 3) The amount of Calcium in broccoli is very close to the amount of calcium in whole milk and it is better absorbed by your body!
  
  
• 4) Because of how it is cut, frozen broccoli has 35% more beta-carotene by weight than fresh broccoli. It also has twice as much sodium and half the calcium.  Iron, Thiamin, Riboflavin, and Vitamin C levels are also lower in frozen versus fresh broccoli.
  
  
• 5) Steaming, Stir-Frying, and Microwaving are the best ways to cook broccoli while maintaining the mineral nutrients.  Boiling isn't a great option because you can literally boil the goodness out into the water!  Once cooked, your broccoli should still be vibrantly green and crisp.  

I make broccoli at least once a day and my favorite method thus far is steaming it in a double boiler until it is bright green. Then, I grab a fresh lemon and juice it over the broccoli.  Add a little pepper and a dash of kosher salt and it is AMAZING.  I always end up with fresh, bright and vivid flavor plus a side-dish that is super good for me!  It's like Christmas in a vegetable!