When you watch the news before bedtime, you subject yourself to a bombardment of disturbing content that can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. As sleep debt accumulates, it impacts your metabolism and can lead to obesity.
The team at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health explains that data points to a link between television watching and greater calorie intake. Additionally, watching television news every night before bed can cause regular sleep deprivation, which can trigger a cortisol spike, increasing the chances of your body retaining fat.
Moreover, sleep deprivation can make it difficult for your body to process insulin, which has the potential to lead to an increase in body fat, per WebMD. Insulin is a hormone that transforms sugar and starches into energy. After just four days of not getting adequate sleep, your insulin sensitivity (how well your cells respond to insulin) could decline by more than 30%, according to research out of the University of Chicago. Researchers noted that this reduction in insulin sensitivity was similar to the difference they observed between the cells of obese versus lean individuals who participated in the study.
Ultimately, making sure to get enough quality sleep is less about losing weight and more about providing your body with the quality sleep it needs to do its metabolism work to prevent weight gain. Obesity can lead to serious health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, so if you must watch the news before bed every night, shut off the television at least an hour before getting under the covers, per WebMD.
