Know How Body Weight Affects Our Sleep

Multiple studies confirm that people who are obese or overweight tend to be susceptible to all manner of health consequences. But did you know that being overweight can also affect how a person sleeps? It is one of the reasons experts advise that you should think about your weight when looking for a mattress. Thankfully, there are a couple of options allowing you to pick the best mattress for overweight individuals. Even after identifying the ideal mattress, it is important to note that there are a couple of ways body weight can affect your sleep. Some of these include:

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

Research shows that being obese or overweight can make you have excessive sleepiness during the day. This is mostly because overweight people sleep for fewer hours during the night. Consequently, this makes you feel tired in the morning rather than feeling refreshed. This is bound to affect the rest of your day, where instead of feeling productive, you end up feeling drowsy and tired most of the day. The same also applies to the people who end up sleeping for longer hours during the night. This does not make them feel rested because they also end up feeling like sleeping during the day. To avoid being a victim of daytime sleepiness, research suggests that you lose weight so that you can sleep better and become more energetic.

Daytime Sleepiness

When a person is overweight, there are high chances that they will not get to sleep all through the night, even if it is just for a few hours. What happens is that they experience short sleep interruptions, which basically leads to excessive tiredness during daytime. The interruptions interrupt the normal sleep stages and schedules. A majority of individuals who experience fragmented sleep usually fall asleep fast, but they end up waking up many times during the night. Note that these are not the natural ones that happen to people. They are unusual disturbances that you can remember during the day.

 Development of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

It is common for individuals who are obese or overweight to experience multiple sleep problems. One of the most prevalent is obstructive sleep apnea. This is where a person stops breathing repeatedly for about 10 seconds or more while they are sleeping. This can be dangerous because it usually results in decreased flow of oxygen in the blood. At times, it is also the cause of awakening someone who is asleep several times during the night. This comes about when the tongue and throat muscles become more relaxed during sleep and the soft tissues of the throat and mouth cause the airway to block.

Increased Insomnia

Several studies have also linked insomnia to obesity. Insomnia is quite a complicated condition where individuals have a tough time falling asleep or even staying asleep. You can either experience acute insomnia which happens for a short period of time may be because you are anxious or something has happened in your life. Some obese people, however, experience chronic insomnia. This happens at least 3 times or more in a week and lasts for months. Most of the time, a person suffering from chronic insomnia will have to undergo treatment so that they can start sleeping well again. Treatment usually combines medical, behavioural, and psychological components to try and help a person enjoy their sleep again.

 Conclusion

Research continues to prove that there is a link between how much people weigh and the amount of sleep they get. A high percentage of people who are on the heavier side tend to get fewer hours of sleep, which often leads to the development of a myriad of sleep and health issues.