Sleep vitally important for good health

So you wanna burn fat more efficiently, age more gracefully and become more resistant to all-too-common maladies such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer?

In your dreams! No, seriously. Make sure you’re catching ample Zs, says Canadian fitness guru Dr. Uche Odiatu.

“Sleep is one of the fundamental pillars of health,” he tells Keeping Fit by phone from the Toronto area.

Odiatu, 51, strives to get between seven and eight hours of shut-eye nightly.

“Sure, there’s days I might go six because of a deadline, but I’d say most of the time it’s seven to eight,” admits the co-author of The Miracle of Health.

“I feel great. I’m thinking with a lot more clarity. I’m lean. And it costs nothing to go to bed early.”

Odiatu, a personal trainer certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, dentist and corporate lecturer, notes that research in recent years has shown a direct correlation between sleep-deprivation and weight gain.

“The Canadian Obesity Network is now focused on sleep and stress management as being primary in terms of getting people leaner — above diet and exercise,” he adds.

Snooze and you’ll lose (weight)?

Just four nights of disrupted sleep, according to a 2012 University of Chicago study Odiatu cites, resulted in the subjects’ fat cells becoming 30% less sensitive to insulin. Essentially, the subjects’ ability to burn fat was significantly hampered.

To make matters worse, sleep-deprivation has been shown to spike the body’s production of the so-called “hunger hormone” known as ghrelin.

“If you’re not getting enough sleep, your body starts craving fat and sugar,” Odiatu explains. “So after a few nights of disrupted sleep, not only have you become a poor fat burner, you also have this neuro-transmitter that’s forcing you to eat more sugar and fat. ... For me, fundamentally, sleep is so primary for health, it’s incredible.”

Indeed, the benefits of good sleep certainly don’t end with a leaner physique.

Current sleep research has shown that if you are regularly sleeping fewer than seven hours a night, you are more likely to suffer cardiovascular disease, a stroke or cancer, or become diabetic, says Odiatu, a lean 180 pounds at five-foot-eight.

The busy father of three also cites a 2011 study that measured “the effects of sleep extension of the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players” at Stanford University in California.

The players were directed to get a minimum of 10 hours of sleep each night for five to seven weeks. Everything else—including their practice schedule, training and nutrition—was held constant, Odiatu says.

Among the results, the players experienced significant improvements in their shooting accuracy: 9% in their free throws and 9.2% in three-pointers.

“That’s huge in a basketball game,” Odiatu enthuses. “Sleep is one of the most overlooked ways to increase your performance.”

The former competitive bodybuilder, however, is expecting to be a bit sleep-deprived next spring. His wife, Kary, is expecting again in March.

“We realize with a new baby coming, we’ll definitely have to dip into our sleep bank,” Odiatu jokes.

But he knows the baby-induced sleep deprivation won’t last forever.

And you can bet that the couple will certainly do their best to counter the debilitating effects of disrupted sleep by staying active, eating well and drinking plenty of water, Odiatu notes.

Uche's tips for a good night's sleep