The Boise Weight Loss Clinic presents The Sleep-Weight Loss Connection

     Did you know that poor sleep can often hinder people when trying to lose weight, or even maintain a healthy weight? How in the world are those two things even connected? Well, sleep is very intimately connected to a wide variety of processes and functions and is a critical component to optimal health. At the Boise Weight Loss Clinic examining how patients are sleeping (both quality and quantity) is one of the first things we look at.
When we sleep our body uses this as a time to repair and regenerate. During sleep our body produces various hormones and biochemicals that assist the body in all its different daily functions. Among other things that sleep does is help us create a greater resilience to stress, which in and of itself can cause a cascade of problems including weight gain. One of the primary hormones responsible for helping us achieve normal sleep is known as serotonin. What most people don鈥檛 realize is that we have more serotonin receptors in our GI system than we do in our brain. So defiant levels of serotonin doesn鈥檛 simply mean mood and sleep problems, but digestive problems as well.
The Boise Weight Loss Clinic sees many patients with sleep disturbances. If you are having difficulties with sleep, we recommend an all natural supplement designed to help boost serotonin levels naturally. The supplement is called 5-HTP, which stands for 5-hydroxy-tryptophan. We carry a pharmaceutical grade 5-HTP supplement here at the Boise Weight Loss Clinic, but can also give recommendations on other 5-HTP supplements on the market. The way that 5-HTP works is simple. It is a natural precursor to serotonin and as such, increasing levels of 5-HTP in turn boosts serotonin levels. If you look at the biochemical pathway, it looks like this:
Tryptophan鈫?5-HTP 鈫?Serotonin
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid. Among other things, 5-HTP is one of the substances that Tryptophan is metabolized into. 5-HTP is then directly converted into Serotonin. I know that many people at this point are thinking, that鈥檚 nice, but what is the sleep weight loss connection? There are several connections really. First and foremost what people need to understand is that lack of sleep places a tremendous amount of stress on the body. Simply put, stress is extremely unhealthy for the body and in particular is counterproductive for people looking to lose weight. When your body undergoes stress of any type it naturally produce stress-coping hormones. These hormones can dramatically impact your body鈥檚 metabolism and ultimately can lead to weight gain.
The other connection that most people are unaware of is this: You have more serotonin receptors in your GI system than you do in your brain. What does this mean? At the Boise Weight Loss Clinic we constantly teach people that optimal serotonin levels are critical for proper digestion. Proper digestion is a critical component to weight loss.
Does this make sense? Hopefully you are seeing the big picture and connection here. The Boise Weight Loss Clinic is constantly engaged in educating patients on how seemingly little things like proper sleep can have a dramatic impact on overall health for better or worse. Sleep is critical for optimal health, and should be a major part of an overall weight loss strategy.

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