Many people nowadays like to sleep late although tomorrow they have to wake up early to go to the university or maybe workplace. When holiday time comes, they like to sleep late and wake up late, considering this as an excuse to pay their sleep debt that they suffer for all this long. When they have their regular check-up for their cholesterol level, they are surprised to find out that the level is moderately high although they admitted they have exercise and have a good diet. What caused their cholesterol level high although they have exercise and have a good diet? The answer is their sleep pattern.

Connection between sleep deprivation and cholesterol level

Recent studies found out that sleep deprivation (lack of sleep) might have some impact on cholesterol metabolism in both lipoprotein levels and gene expression. Those genes, that are responsible for cholesterol transportation, are not as active in a person who has suffered from sleep deprivation as they would be in a person who gets a good quality sleep.

The study further showed that people with sleep deprivation had lower HDL (high-density lipoproteins) or as some people say the good cholesterol and increase their LDL or bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels. How about those who get a good quality sleep? The researchers couldn’t find any of that result on them. Based on those studies, sleep deprivation is not only raising your cholesterol level, it also higher the cardiovascular disease risk and many other health problems such as obesity.

Does the effect experienced from sleep deprivation is the same between male and female?

It won’t be fair if it’s not the same, right? But a research reported that the effect of sleep deprivation had on lipids (lipoprotein) highly varies and appeared to affect genders differently. For women, HDL and triglyceride levels were more affected by sleep duration that men in that study.  In women, the HDL (good cholesterol) can be lowered up to 6 mg/dL and triglyceride levels were increased by up to 30 mg/dL. Quite a lot only for lacking of sleep, don’t you agree? For men, the sleep pattern appeared to have a different effect. The study suggested that LDL was increased up to 9 mg/dL but no significant decrease in triglycerides and HDL (good cholesterol). Yep! Women get a lot of problem with their health. Stay strong, women!

How many hours should a person sleep?

Does that mean if we sleep longer the cholesterol level in the blood vessels will be lowered? Not exactly. Why? It’s because those who oversleep are also vulnerable to the lowered of HDL (high-density lipoproteins) especially, for women. The result mentioned above actually is experienced by women that sleep less than six hours or sleep more than eight hours. While for men, the result is experienced for those who sleep less than six hours. Based on that study, either lacking sleep (sleep deprivation) or getting too much sleep (over-sleeping) can place individuals at higher risk of metabolic syndrome, which is shown by several symptoms such as lowered HDL (good cholesterol), raised triglyceride levels, obesity and elevated blood pressure and glucose levels.

Why can sleeping period adversely affect the cholesterol levels?

The study discovered that individuals sleeping less than six hours per night usually had poorer lifestyle habit. It might sound stereotype but that’s true. Individuals who sleep less get a higher chance to experience a high level of stress on their jobs, skipping meals or eating out more often, and not exercising all of which could contribute to increasing the cholesterol and triglyceride levels. This will result in the increasing risk of heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Additionally, reducing the sleeping time also can modify such hormones as leptin and ghrelin, both of which might help increase appetite and food intake. That’s why individuals who lacking sleep, usually feel hungry more often than those who sleep well. As a result, those people increase the risk of obesity and as people knows, gaining weight means the cholesterol levels will be raised, too.

Bottom line

Have a healthy lifestyle is important to reduce the cholesterol levels and the free radicals. By having a good diet such as avoiding foods high in saturated fat and loading up foods that help to lower the LDL or bad cholesterol but increase your HDL or good cholesterol. Exercise also plays a major role in lowering your cholesterol levels. Researchers suggested that getting at least 40 minutes of moderate walking or other exercises in your day, three to four times a week can help reduce the cholesterol levels significantly. In addition to that, have a good quality sleep is also as important as having good diet and exercising.

Many people underestimated the importance to have a good night sleep but many studies had shown that sleep deprivation and over-sleeping can cause many problems to the body such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke. It’s important to harness good habit to healthier lifestyle from now on before it’s too late. In the end, no matter how much money an individual has, it’s not worth it if the individual is severely sick. It might not easy to change to a healthier lifestyle including have a good night sleep in this problematic world but if you do so, it will save you a lot of pain, stress, and sickness. So what are you waiting for? Start modifies your lifestyle into a healthier one.