Does sleeping help in weight loss? Here's what experts say
Fitness enthusiasts and people dealing with obesity try out every possible weight loss method to attain the desired results. But what if one's sleep may do the trick just as good? A new study aimed to change how we think about weight loss by examining how getting enough sleep influences caloric intake in a real-world setting.
The research was published in the journal 'JAMA Internal Medicine.' According to Esra Tasali, MD, Director of the UChicago Sleep Center at the University of Chicago Medicine, understanding the underlying reasons of obesity and how to prevent it is the greatest method to combat the obesity crisis. "Experts say that a rise in caloric intake, rather than a lack of exercise, is to blame for the current obesity epidemic."
Researchers discovered that after a personalised sleep hygiene counselling session, young, overweight adults who typically slept fewer than 6.5 hours per night were able to increase their sleep duration by an average of 1.2 hours per night. The sleep intervention was designed to enhance sleep duration to 8.5 hours and participants' overall caloric intake was lowered by an average of 270 kcal (calories) per day.
"Over the years, we have witnessed that sleep restriction has an effect on appetite regulation that leads to increased food intake, and thus puts you at risk for weight gain over time," said Tasali.
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The new study not only looks into the effects of sleep extension on caloric intake but does so in a real-world setting, with no manipulation or control over participants' eating habits. Participants slept on their own beds, used wearable devices to track their sleep, and otherwise lived their normal lives with no dietary or exercise restrictions.
In order to objectively track participants' caloric intake, researchers relied on the "doubly labelled water" method and change in energy stores. This urine-based test includes a person drinking water that has had both hydrogen and oxygen atoms replaced with less common but easily traceable stable isotopes.
The study's senior author, Dale A. Schoeller, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at UW-Madison, was the first to use this approach in humans. "It has altered the way human obesity is studied since it is regarded the gold standard for objectively assessing daily energy expenditure in a non-laboratory, real-world setting," Schoeller said.
Individuals who extended their sleep duration were able to cut their caloric intake by an average of 270 kcal per day, equivalent to around 12 kg (26 lbs) of weight loss over three years assuming the results were prolonged.
The intervention's simplicity was perhaps the most surprising feature of the study.
Participants enhanced their average sleep duration by nearly an hour per night after just one counselling session. Even though no other lifestyle changes were recommended, most individuals ate much less, with some eating as little as 500 fewer calories per day.
"This was not a weight-loss study," said Tasali adding," but even within just two weeks, we have quantified evidence showing a decrease in caloric intake."
"If healthy sleeping habits are maintained for a longer period of time, clinically significant weight loss can be achieved. Many people are trying to figure out how to cut their caloric intake in order to lose weight, well, you might be able to do so just by sleeping more," she adds.
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