:well being
&
Well Being
HEALTH
with Jacquie Dale
Diet Setbacks Revealed
Weight loss is one of the most popular resolutions made each
year, but only a few of us manage to succeed and keep those
kilos off. Doctors at the Loyola Centre for Metabolic Surgery
and Bariatric Care have revealed the top four reasons why diets
fail. Underestimating the actual calories we eat, over estimating
the calories burned through exercise, not eating regularly
during the day and lack of sleep. The best way to succeed in
losing weight is to keep a food diary, watch your serving sizes,
especially when eating away from home. Eat breakfast and try
not to go longer than five hours without eating. Going to bed
a little earlier helps too, studies show that sleep deprivation
stimulates our appetite for high calorie foods and raises levels of
fat storing hormones.
Low Vitamin D linked
to daytime sleepiness
A recent study published in the Journal
of Clinical Sleep Medicine has for the first
time linked the 'sunshine vitamin' Vitamin
D with sleep. Vitamin D has been in the
spotlight regularly for it's importance
in bone health, it's role in reducing risk
for many chronic diseases including
autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes,
heart disease, many cancers and
infectious diseases. Vitamin D deficiency
is now pandemic due to the fact that most
of us have depended on the sun for our
vitamin D requirement which now we either
avoid or wear sun protection. Additionally
there are few foods that naturally contain
vitamin D. The sleep study shows that
Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to
daytime tiredness. During winter your
levels of Vitamin D can drop by half.
76 | www.h e rma gaz i n e . c o. n z
