Tackling weight loss is tough enough and almost impossible if you feel tired all the time. For patients with sleep apnea, there is a relationship between losing shut-eye and gaining extra pounds.

Yes, thats right. Poor sleep might be the culprit of your weight problems!

You might have a hidden sleep disorder that is wreaking havoc on your hormones ” and leading to more weight gain!

And this is not some rare situation. You might be one of the estimated 80 million Americans with sleep apnea who has not yet been diagnosed!

First tackle the sleep problems. Then good sleep will start working for you in your battle to lose weight, instead of against you. Your efforts to lose weight will become much easier if you solve the sleeping problem first.

There are many risks associated with untreated sleep apnea, including stroke and heart disease. Ignoring treatment is also a known cause of weight gain.

Heres some science behind the connection between apnea and weight gain:

1. Most of you don’t have time to feel run down from lack of sleep. Your body’s solution is to crave immediate energy by carbo-loading in the form of sugar, carbohydrates and other calorie rich foods. In a study by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, patients with the most extreme cases of sleep problems were also consuming the most calories, protein, cholesterol and saturated fat.

2. The Quebec Family Study reported that short sleepers (five to six hours a night) were 35% more likely than average sleepers (approximately seven hours) to have up to an 11-pound weight gain over six years.

3. Without good sleep, the levels of the hormone ghrelin go way up. Ghrelin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates appetite. So getting good sleep is probably the most natural appetite suppressant in the world!