If you need more convincing to finally fix your sleep deprivation problem, here it is: A new sleep study has found people who lose a lot of sleep eat more fatty foods and gain more weight.
The study, from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, confirms several other similar studies conducted over the past few years. This one is pretty significant, because it used the largest, most diverse sample to date — 225 healthy adults ages 22 to 50 — and it was done in a controlled sleep lab.
The researchers found that on the days the subjects were restricted to four hours of sleep, they ate more meals, chose fattier foods and shifted eating to later in the night. After five consecutive nights of this, they gained an average of 1kg.
The solution, of course, is to try to sleep more (or end your sleep problems). It might even help you lose weight.
Effects of Sleep Restriction on Weight Gain, Caloric Intake, and Meal Timing [Sleep Journal via NBC]
Picture: ollyy/Shutterstock
Comments
4 responses to “The Less You Sleep, The More Weight You Gain”
Great, yet more anecdotal statistics used as a basis for dietary advice. Just what the world needs…
But but but, it was done in a controlled sleep lab /sarcasm.
Of course people who don’t sleep will pick the fattiest hence quickest food available if you are too tired to make anything.
there’s just too many factors to draw any conclusions in my opinion, let alone the authors very clever suggestion of “the quick fix”, which im sure that articles on quick weight loss draw a lot of hits.. But in the end, who cares if all you’re doing is perpetuating easy solutions that nobody will ever have any success with.. There’s a billion of those already, so lets just quit while we’re ahead.
It’s more that fatty foods give you more energy quicker. It’s what you need when you’re tired and need to stay awake.