6. Weight Gain: The Unspoken Domino Effect
Let’s shift our focus to another perplexing side effect of sleep apnea—weight gain. The relationship between sleep apnea and increased weight isn’t a mere coincidence or a casual correlation. It’s a circular dilemma where each condition can exacerbate the other, trapping you in an unhealthy cycle that’s as frustrating as it is damaging.
The immediate culprit here is cortisol, often referred to as the ‘stress hormone.’ Sleep disruptions trigger its release, which subsequently affects your metabolism, hunger hormones, and even your cravings. So, you’re not just imagining that increased appetite after a poor night’s sleep; your body is chemically wired to seek out more food, particularly sugar and fats, when it’s stressed.
But why does sleep apnea make you stress-eat, you ask? Well, remember the numerous micro-wakeups we talked about earlier? Each of those triggers a miniature stress response. Accumulate those across weeks and months, and you have a recipe for weight gain. You’re essentially forcing your body into a ‘survival mode’ where it hoards calories, assuming you’ll need them for the energy to tackle some impending disaster.(6)
