Sleeplessness as a Cause of Obesity - Essay Example

Article Analysis To make the claim that sleeplessness causes obesity, the draws on the findings of a recent research that depicted a link between obesity and sleeplessness. Two primary causes have been identified to explain how sleeplessness causes obesity. Firstly, when an individual remains awake, he/she consumes food that would otherwise have been skipped had he/she slept. Secondly, the whole night for which the individual remains awake lowers the individual’s metabolism for the next morning and a major portion of the day as a result of which, the stored energy is not burnt at the rate at which it burns in people that take regular night sleep.

Despite this research, experts are of the view that various confounding factors are playing their role in depicting the link between sleeplessness and obesity. Experts are not convinced that they have objective reasons to believe in the cause-effect relationship between sleeplessness and obesity. Nevertheless, it has generally been observed that people that take a regular 8 hr night sleep are quite lesser at risk of becoming obese than people who remain awake. Past cases suggest an inverse relationship between the average sleep time and the obesity rate.

I personally think that there is a direct relationship between sleeplessness and obesity. The author provided two reasons for believing there is an inverse link. In response to them, I present my own two reasons that suggest that there is a direct link between the two. Firstly, when an individual remains awake rather than sleep, he/she is constantly exerting either mentally or physically or both. This exertion lowers the energy level and the stored energy in the form of fat is consumed. There is little chance that the individual would consume a full meal in the night like he/she does in the day because the body is not attuned to the consumption at night.

Secondly, when the metabolism remains low for the rest of the day after a sleepless night, an individual is likely to consume lesser food than what he/she would consume in normal circumstances. Both of these are strong possibilities and both keep the individual from gaining weight. In fact, I personally lost 3 kilos weight during last exams when I had to remain awake all night long for several nights consecutively. Having presented my two reasons, I know why I lost those 3 kilos. I did not eat anything during the nights, and also would not eat much in the following days.

Constant mental exertion in the nights and lower metabolism during the days would have helped me lose 3 kilos. The article made me feel good. Though I don’t fully believe the argument, yet it would be nice even if it is true because I would not have to remain awake to lose weight in that case! The argument presented in this article motivates me to experiment. I am thinking about actually spend seven consecutive nights remaining awake and then seven consecutive nights sleeping. I want to learn the truth!

I need to find out to what extent the author is correct and also the extent to which, I am correct. References:West, Mary. (2011, May 25). Sleep deprivation may cause weight gain. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/032502_sleep_deprivation_weight_gain.html.