October 4th, 2010
Study Finds Deep Ties Between Sleep and Weight Loss
Larry Husten, PHD
A good night’s sleep might be a key to losing weight. In a crossover study among 10 overweight people, Arlet Nedeltcheva and colleagues compared the effects of 2 weeks of dieting with 8.5 or 5.5 hours of sleep each night. They found that during the sleep curtailment period, weight loss came more from lean body mass, fat oxidation was reduced, and hunger levels and circulating gherlin levels were higher.
In an accompanying editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Shahrad Taheri and Emmanuel Mignot write that the study provides “insight on why sleep deprivation interferes with the achievement and maintenance of healthy weight” and agree with the authors that “adequate sleep might be an important factor in successful weight loss, and perhaps sleep should be included as part of the lifestyle package that traditionally has focused on diet and exercise.”
One Response to “Study Finds Deep Ties Between Sleep and Weight Loss”
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Larry,
Thank you for posting this study. Dr. Eve Van Cauter who is mentioned as having help with the design of the study and her colleagues at University of Chicago are doing a lot of important work on sleep restriction and metabolism.
From the research that is available, I would go one step further than the accompanying editorial to say – sleep *must* be included as part of the lifestyle package that traditionally has focused on diet and exercise.
Edward Grandi
Executive Director
American Sleep Apnea Association
Competing interests pertaining specifically to this post, comment, or both:
No conflicts of interest