The Connection Between Breathing, Sleeping, Health and Weight loss

Woman doing yoga exercises on the green grass

Contrary to popular belief, Human health is actually a very subjective term with a plethora of factors affecting it, altering it and being dependent on it. Optimal health for some might not be the same as for others. A lot of people might be content with a life of discomfort, with excessive eating, little or no sleep, huffing and puffing after even minute activities, with stress and frustrations taking a complete control on the person’s mind and soul. While on the other hand, another set of people might strive to achieve muscular strength, a peaceful frame of mind, an efficient metabolism and regulated body processes. Age does not hamper such people and their goals. More so, it becomes important to realize that life and health are not all about the longevity of years, it has one important and essential framework: Quality.

The importance of Quality of life and Health

To demonstrate this point, a situation which occurs daily destroying the lives of millions of singular individuals and families would have to be brought to light. Imagine a stubborn male smoker. Not difficult to imagine eh? We all know such men, who are our fathers, brothers, sons, and acquaintances. After smoking a dozen cigars for over 30 years, somewhere above the age of 40, they suffer a stroke. Even one stroke event is enough to lead that man into a life of despair. He becomes a mere vegetable, without movement or without any purpose. This does not only affect the said individual. It becomes a burden to the whole family, who have lost their breadwinner or an integral part of the family system and instead have to look after him, fulfilling the most basic of his needs.

What use is such a life? What use is the temporary happiness which was given by tobacco and smokes? Was it all worth sacrificing to lead the rest of your life in misery? And to lead a life which stretches away just in a number of years without any quality?

It is hoped that this common and small example can enforce the concept of leading a life filled with quality instead of mere quantity.

The connection between breathing and weight loss

In human beings, lungs are the primary organs involved in breathing. Lungs breath out oxygen converted into carbon dioxide. It might be a good news for many to hear that lungs are involved in weight loss as well, as mere breathing can lead to a significant amount of weight loss. This whole concept can be understood by the fact that excess dietary carbohydrate and proteins are converted to a simpler type of fat called as triglycerides. Triglycerides, in turn, are split into three basic kinds of atoms namely: the carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms. These simpler atoms can only be achieved by a process known as oxidation.

A research was conducted to measure the exact amount of weight loss through this process. It was found out that when 10 kg of fat was oxidized, it converted 8.4 kg and led to the release of that amount of carbon dioxide accompanied by 1.6 kg of water vapors through the lungs.

This being said it has been calculated with a certain amount of accuracy that around 17,280 breaths will release 200 grams of carbon dioxide through the process of oxidation. An even more surprising fact is that around one-third of this would be achieved during the daily 8 hours of recommended sleep. It must be kept in mind, that regardless of all these statistics and experiments, junk food should still be avoided at all cost as it can easily offset the number of calories lost through this simple process.

The connection between sleeping and weight loss

It should be stressed at this point, sleep trumps all in terms of health. Regardless of the best diet and fitness plans if a person does not sleep for the recommended daily hours then he loses the major part of his health. It is easy and very common to connect a pattern of weight gain and obesity with people who do not sleep well. Sleep is also known to affect appetite, digestion, and metabolism, apart from weight.

Sleep can often be the key connection between a well-functioning circadian rhythm and maintaining a healthy balanced weight. With this concept, it should be warned however that this does not, in any case, mean that artificial sleep is induced by taking sedatives as this can be downright dangerous and even fatal and has no contribution towards weight loss.

Poor and insufficient sleep triggers the rise of cortisol which is a stress hormone, which leads to excessive fat storage and slows down the metabolism.

Why is an optimal weight essential for health?

Maintaining an optimal weight has become quite a challenge in today’s era. Obesity has now been classified as an epidemic, with the developed countries being faced with the toll of this enormous problem. There has been an increased risk seen in diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular problems. If these diseases were not enough, overweight individuals are also known to have self-esteem and body image issues which can lead to them ending their own lives.

On the other hand, anorexic individuals also suffer somewhat the same fate. The gradually decrease their food intake so much, that a decrease seen in body fat which is essential for all humans and a massive reduction in calories is seen which ultimately leads to the death of the individual.

Therefore it is essential for a person to lead a life with a balance of diet and sleep. Considerable stress should be placed on improving the quality of your life, which will automatically increase the quantity of life as well.

This guest post was written by Hassan Khan Yousafzai; he is passionate about Digital marketing. Along with an educational background in Software Engineering, he is bridging the gap between marketing and development department. At Techvando, he has been consulting brands all over Pakistan to gain online traffic and profitable leads.

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