Who sleeps, he eats
Sleep more, eat less
Recently, obesity has become an epidemic all over the world. And, according to a number of experts, the reason for this is not only a lack of physical activity, but also banal overeating. And in this sense, a recent study by scientists has confirmed the validity of the French saying that "whoever sleeps has lunch."
We all know from our own experience that lack of sleep increases appetite. But a daily increase in energy consumption by only 100 kcal (so much is contained, for example, in a tiny 25-gram croissant) in three years will give a body weight gain of about 4.5 kg! At the same time, people are sleeping less and less. So, in the USA, a third of respondents do not sleep the 7-9 hours recommended by specialists per day. A natural question arises – is it possible to solve the problem of obesity by simply normalizing sleep?
Such studies already exist, but they were conducted in laboratories where conditions were far from real. And now scientists from the University of Chicago (USA) conducted a "full–scale" experiment on people who led their usual way of life - with one exception.
In total, the study involved 80 overweight young adults (body mass index 25.0–29.9) who usually slept less than 6.5 hours a day. Half of them were in the control group, and the rest, thanks to a consultation on sleep hygiene, managed to increase sleep time by an average of 1.2 hours (up to 8.5 hours in total).
The study participants lived at home, ate as usual, and sleep duration was monitored using special devices attached to the body. The experiment itself took a month, while it took two weeks to collect initial information about sleep and calorie intake.
The scientists calculated the change in energy reserves in the body by indicators of body weight and composition, for which two–energy X-ray absorptiometry was used - this method is based on different absorption of X-ray radiation by tissues. Daily energy consumption was determined using the method of double–labeled water: participants drank water containing heavy isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, the content of which was then measured in samples of secretions - so it is possible to indirectly measure the absorption of oxygen and the production of carbon dioxide.
It turned out that people who began to sleep more, began to eat less. They received an average of 270 kcal less per day, while their total energy consumption did not change significantly. This means that an increase in sleep duration led to a negative energy balance: people began to consume fewer calories than they burned. If such a condition is constantly observed, then in three years a person can lose up to 12 kg of his weight!
Article by Tasali et al. The Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among Adults with Overweight in Real-Life Settings is published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine – VM.
Scientists hope to further study in detail the mechanisms of the relationship between the duration of sleep and the energy balance of the body. However, already now anyone can check the effectiveness of the recommendation to sleep longer to reduce weight and prevent obesity. It will benefit in any case!
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