Even Poor Sleep Can Cause Weight Gain

Many studies are evaluating it The connection between insomnia and obesity has been strongly emphasized by sleep deprivation, such as preventing participants. sleep until about four o’clock at night. Research shows that this can lead to overeating and overeating, which can lead to weight gain.

Because very few people can tolerate sleep deprivation for several days, however, the utility of this study is limited, and it does not predict whether more and less severe forms of insomnia, such as sleeping five or six hours each night, lead to weight gain.

This is the basis of recent research and a research group at the Vagelos School of Medicine of Columbia University, which revealed that chronic insomnia, which affects about 30 percent of adults – can lead to weight gain.

“Our research shows that getting enough sleep can help reduce the risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes,” he explained Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a professor at Columbia University who specializes in nutritional medicine, in a release.

Too much sleep, too much weight

St-Onge and his research team studied 95 adults who averaged seven hours of sleep a day and had increased cardiovascular and metabolic risk. The participants were asked to delay sleep by 90 minutes for six weeks, and their sleep time and physical activity were recorded using wrist-worn monitors.

For another six weeks, the participants maintained their usual sleep schedule. At all times, the researchers measured the weight of the participants, waist circumference, body composition, and fasting blood levels of several hormones that are involved in appetite.

Studies have shown that when bedtime was delayed and sleep time was reduced by about 80 minutes, the weight of students increased by about 0.45 kilograms—about a pound—compared to when they slept normally. Extending these results for one year, a lot of weight can be associated with chronic sleeplessness.

Additionally, during sleep deprivation, the amount of time spent sitting increases by 17 minutes per day. In menopausal men and women, sedentary time increases by about 30 minutes per day. In other words, even accounting for the length of time they were awake, participants spent more time sitting than when they were getting enough sleep.

On the other hand, levels of leptin—a hormone that suppresses appetite—were actually higher during sleep deprivation. The theory proposed by sleep deprivation studies that hormonal disruptions lead to overeating doesn’t work, especially when it comes to leptin.

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A previous study involving a subset of the same population (38 women) also showed health implications. Women who are at high risk of heart disease and metabolic disease who got less than 80 minutes of sleep each night during the six weeks, their insulin resistance—a risk factor for type 2 diabetes—increased. This is especially evident in postmenopausal women.

Also, another study involving participants showed that a small decrease in sleep time in men and women at high risk of heart disease caused immune cells in the blood to migrate to the site of inflammation.

This study shows that even a small amount of sleep—which many people experience on a daily basis—can have effects on weight control, sedentary time, and appetite-related hormones. Finding that the accumulation of little sleep can lead to health problems that are at risk in the modern lifestyle that tends to prioritize other things than sleep.

“All of our findings suggest that insufficient sleep increases the risk of obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease,” St-Onge said. he says. The next step is to understand how people who don’t get enough sleep can benefit from improving their sleep. How can reassessing your daily sleep schedule help you lose weight and prevent lifestyle diseases? More research is needed to understand the mechanisms involved.

This article appeared first WIRED Japan and translated from Japanese.