Struggling with weight loss can be frustrating, but it is miserable when youre also tired all the time. For people with apnea, there is a scientific connection between weight gain and sleep loss.

Yes, sleep is necessary for not only mental focus and physical stamina but is essential to regulate your weight!

If you find it practically impossible to stop gaining weight then you might have a hidden sleep problem, such as apnea that is harming your body’s hormone levels and causing your weight gain.

Sleep apnea related weight gain is all too common. It is estimated that 80 million Americans live with undiagnosed sleep apnea today.

Trying to lose weight without treating your apnea is a losing battle. Your body needs deep sleep night after night to regulate healthy functions, maintain your metabolism and to lose weight.

If you have apnea and are not regularly using CPAP, then you are almost certainly going to gain weight.

Here’s some things to understand about the connection between apnea and weight gain:

1. When your body feels tired it automatically craves fuel in the form of sugar, carbohydrates and other foods with a high glycemic index. In a study published by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, people with the most severe cases of sleep disorders also had the highest intake of calories, protein, cholesterol and saturated fat.

2. In a report from the Quebec Family Study, people who regularly only get five to six hours of sleep per night are 35% more likely to gain up to 11-pounds of fat over six years compared to a person who sleeps between seven to eight hours per night.

3. It turns out that the best appetite suppressant is a good night’s sleep. Poor quality sleep causes levels of the hormone ghrelin to severely increase in your gastrointestinal tract. This hormone is in charge of making you feel hungry. You increase your levels of ghrelin every time you get a bad night’s sleep.