Do you have sleep apnea? If you do, it could be the reason you are gaining weight. I know it isn’t what you wanted to hear, but did you know that it is actually good to find out? Once you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, you can take the right steps toward treatment and losing weight! Continual sleep deprivation can undermine weight loss efforts just as much as eating that Big Mac from McDonalds can. If you’ve ever thought, why isn’t the weight coming off? It might be time to see if sleep apnea is the culprit and finally find a solution.

Why is Sleep so Important?

When we are sleep deprived, everything goes haywire. To begin, when we are tired we tend to sleep more. In fact, a study shows that we can eat as many as 550 extra calories a day! This is because sleep influences levels of hormones that affect our feelings of hunger and fullness–we even crave more carbs when we lose out on sleep. Even if you cut back on calories, sleep deprivation gets in the way and makes it harder to lose the weight.

I Can’t Sleep

Yes, it can often be difficult to get the recommended seven or eight hours of sleep a night. We know this. From a never-ending to-do list to the glowing screens of our computers, phones and tablets, sleep might be the last thing on your list. You need to add it to your to-do list. Actually, let’s create a new list and the one thing on it needs to be SLEEP! And if you have sleep apnea, it is even more important to seek treatment so you can finally get the rest you need.

Weight Can Lead to Sleep Apnea

The biggest factor in sleep apnea is your weight. Weight gain typically causes sleep apnea, not the other way around. Extra weight means more fat in the throat area, which obstructs breathing. And when obesity occurs, sleep apnea can only worsen it, leaving a person chronically sleep deprived, adding to weight. If you put on more pounds, it can continue to worsen your sleep apnea symptoms.

Next Steps

Losing weight can help improve and even reverse sleep apnea. So, guess what? Let’s start losing weight! Losing about 10 percent of excess weight can lower sleep apnea severity by at least 30%. This can result in fewer apnea events throughout the night. And, getting your sleep apnea under control can help you shed some extra pounds, too.

The bottom line is that treating sleep apnea is vital to your health and sleeping patterns. Take steps toward improving your health and sleep by visiting Craniofacial Pain & Dental Sleep Center of Georgia today.