You can lose excess weight without going on a diet. All you have to do is spend more time in bed every day – about an hour or a little more. This was the conclusion reached by scientists from the Sleep Research Center at the University of Chicago Medical School who conducted a randomized clinical trial involving 80 overweight adult volunteers.
His findings, published in the journal Internal Medicine of the American Academy of Sciences, show that adolescents who received sleep hygiene counseling were able to increase their regular sleep duration by more than an hour, or nearly one-fifth (they previously slept an average of 6.5 hours per night). Volunteers who spent more time in bed (compared to the control group) experienced less hunger and were able to reduce their average daily calorie intake by 270 calories. About the same amount of energy is contained in three chocolate chip cookies.
Researchers have calculated that if you continuously lose this amount of energy every day for three years, you can lose about 12 pounds in that time, while maintaining the same level of physical activity and making no changes to your diet. Several previous scientific experiments have concluded that regular sleep deprivation often leads to weight gain. The authors of a new study decided to investigate the relationship in the opposite direction: does getting more sleep help people who are already overweight lose it?
A healthy diet is just as important to your health as a good night’s sleep, say the study authors. For the experiment, 80 participants between the ages of 20 and 40 were selected with a body mass index of 25-30: a weight that is considered excessive in the U.S., but not quite obese. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next.
To make the conditions of the experiment as close to reality as possible, the scientists decided not to conduct it in a laboratory. The volunteers continued to live at home, sleeping in their own beds and measuring key life indicators using devices similar to smart wristbands. The volunteers were given no instructions on how to behave. They were not even told that they were participating in a sleep study. The purpose was to ensure that the experiment did not interfere with the participants’ normal daily routines, with the only difference being the amount of sleep.
The number of calories consumed each day was determined by a special urine analysis, which is considered the best method for monitoring the body’s energy expenditure at home. Volunteers drink water prepared in a laboratory where normal oxygen and hydrogen atoms have been replaced with their safe, easily traceable isotopes. By comparing the water from the glucose breakdown with the water from the urine analysis, it is possible to accurately calculate the number of calories consumed.
As a result, within just two weeks, subjects in the experimental group who attended the consultation increased their sleep by an average of 1.2 hours. This, in turn, led to a reduction in hunger, as the volunteers’ caloric intake decreased by an average of 270 kcal per day during this time, and by as much as 500 kcal for some participants. At the same time, researchers emphasize that a healthy, varied diet and adequate physical activity are just as important for good health as getting enough sleep. Therefore, the decision to spend more time in bed should be made after weighing all the pros and cons. But what is undeniable, the authors conclude, is that the right sleep regimen can play a very important role in the choice of therapy for people suffering from obesity.