NIFS Healthy Living Blog

We often focus on heart health strategies during waking hours—exercising regularly, staying physically active, and eating nutritious meals. For instance, aerobic exercise strengthens the cardiovascular system by enhancing the heart's efficiency. With consistent training, the heart pumps blood more effectively, leading to benefits like increased left ventricle size, stronger contractions, and greater stroke volume. Similarly, limiting foods high in calories, saturated fats, and refined sugars helps reduce harmful byproducts like cholesterol, triglycerides, and excess sugar. But what about the hours we spend sleeping? Could your sleep habits be influencing your long-term heart health?

The Role of Sleep in Recovery:

Sleep plays a critical role in the recovery of muscles, tissues, and the central nervous system (CNS). During sleep, our brain cycles through non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) stages, which are essential for overall recovery. A healthy sleep pattern also supports the body’s circadian rhythm—a natural, 24-hour cycle that regulates hormones, energy levels, and metabolic functions. For example, cortisol helps us wake up feeling energized, while melatonin prepares us for sleep as night approaches. Historically, circadian rhythms aligns with daylight, but modern lifestyles often disrupt these natural cycles.

Modern Sleep Challenges:

Today, many people work irregular schedules, leading to disrupted sleep patterns. In fact, about one in three adults struggles to get the recommended 7+ hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep each night. Without completing full sleep cycles, the CNS cannot fully recover, leaving the body in a heightened state of stress. This dysregulation affects hormones critical for the "rest and digest" functions, impairing recovery.

Consequences of Poor Sleep:

Chronic poor sleep impacts both mental and physical health. It diminishes cognitive function, causes fatigue, and can even lead to metabolic dysfunction. Sleep deprivation often results in less nutritious food choices, contributing to weight gain and a higher risk of obesity. Additionally, poor sleep disrupts metabolism, further compounding weight-related challenges.

Sleep and Heart Health:

Short sleep (<7 hours) has been linked to inefficient metabolism, reduced cognition, and low energy levels. It also keeps the body under prolonged stress, raising heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, these effects can harm cardiovascular health, increasing the risk of heart disease and cardiometabolic dysfunction. Combined with poor diet and low physical activity, chronic sleep issues heighten the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, and vascular problems.

Tips for Better Sleep:

Improving your sleep environment and habits can significantly boost your sleep quality and heart health. Here are some actionable steps:

• Create a Sleep-Friendly Environment: Avoid screens emitting blue light before bed, reduce background noise, and keep your bedroom dark and cool.
• Time Your Activities: Avoid heavy exercise or large meals within three hours of bedtime.
• Stick to a Schedule: Consistent sleep and wake times help regulate your circadian rhythm.
• Exercise Regularly: Physical activity promotes better sleep quality.
• Optimize Your Diet: Eat nutritious meals and limit caffeine intake to 5–7 hours before bedtime.
  
  

If you’re struggling to establish healthy sleep habits, consider consulting a doctor or health coach for personalized guidance.

Do you wake up feeling tired? Well, you’re not alone. One in every three Americans does not get the recommended sleep needed for optimal health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Sleep deficiency is known to cause weight gain, but also contributes to a whole list of more serious health issues, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, and diabetes, just to name a few.

Why Sleeping Is So Important for Weight Loss

Believe it or not, each and every day the most important thing that you do all day is sleep. Yes, you heard right! Sleep quality and duration are so important that they directly affect everything else you do in life.

“We are nothing but slaves to chemical processes,” says W. Christopher Winter, MD, in an article for Livestrong.

Nearly one third of our lives are spent asleep. During sleep, it is peak time for our bodies to repair muscle and release hormones that control natural processes, including appetite. All this is being done without any conscious energy being consumed.

Consequently, a deficiency in the sleep column affects everything; more specifically, it cuts weight loss and exercise performance by nearly 20%. This spirals into a decrease in hormone production, (which occurs when we sleep), and ultimately affects our daily eating pattern. Popular studies show that weight gain occurs because more calories are consumed on the following day, because of lack of hormone release. Therefore, a continued deficit during the night will only lead to months and years of unnecessary weight gain. On the flip side, if you aren’t already experiencing weight gain, you may just be unable to lose weight at all. So you don’t have weight gain, but no weight loss occurs, either.

Practice Better Sleep Habits

The best advice is to practice better sleep habits, getting optimal rest and avoiding insomnia.

• Start with controlling your sleep environment by setting it at the appropriate temperature. Experts suggest trying between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Try eliminating all computers and television sets from your room as well, since any source of light tends to disrupt sleep patterns.
• Aim for consistency rather than trying to catch up on hours you might have missed the preceding day.
• Don’t be afraid to take short naps when feeling fatigued. These should be anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes long to help improve alertness, performance, and mood.
• Lastly, never consume caffeine in the afternoon because it has the ability to stay in your system and interrupt the natural onset of sleep several hours later (See our blog on giving up caffeine).

The final verdict is in. A poor amount of sleep greatly hinders weight loss and sets you up for other health problems. So do yourself a favor: turn out the light, tuck yourself in, and get some much-needed Zzzs.

This blog was written by Cara Hartman, NIFS Health Fitness Instructor. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.