For most of us the simple mantra regarding
weight loss is nothing more complicated than Eat less, Do More, Lose weight.
For some people, however, again, perhaps
the majority, that simple maxim can be supplemented (replaced?) with Sleep
More, Lose Weight because there does seem to be a pretty straight-forward
direct link between sleep loss and calorie intake, that is, the less we sleep,
the more we eat.
A simple and small study presented at an
American Heart Association Meeting made that link pretty clear.
In this tiny study of two groups, both were allowed unlimited access to food in
a controlled environment.
One group was also allowed to sleep
normally, but the other group was deprived of about 80 minutes sleep a night,
roughly 15-20 % less than what most of us like to get.
The latter group, the sleep-deprived, ate
an amazing 549 more calories/day over that week than did the others.
Yet both groups expended similar amounts of
energy.
Would this effect lessen with more time
spent sleep-deprived?
Perhaps, but it’s pretty clear that in this
world in which we have 24/7 access to food, often fast-food that’s especially
calorie-dense, when we’re up more, most of us will eat more.
And eventually weigh more.
