31 July, 2017
"In conclusion, longer sleepers generally had more favourable metabolic profiles, despite no associations between sleep duration and dietary intakes in this population". In a 2016 study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who slept five and a half hours or less per night consumed an average of 385 extra calories per day than those who slept seven hours or more. Although the researchers can't be sure, they suspect that people who sleep less may have slower metabolisms.
"The number of people with obesity worldwide has more than doubled since 1980", said researcher Greg Potter. "Our findings support the accumulating evidence showing an important contribution of short sleep to metabolic diseases such as obesity". "Understanding why people gain weight has crucial implications for public health". Those people who didn't get enough sleep had fewer good cholesterol, which also contributes to obesity.
Another investigator in the study, Dr. Laura Hardie insisted on the results that showed that out of the adults that participated in the research, the ones that slept less were prone to get obese. Each subject offered a blood sample, had their waist measured and their blood pressure taken.
Shorter sleep was also linked to reduced levels of HDL cholesterol in the participants' blood-another factor that can cause health problems.
"How much sleep we need differs between people, but the current consensus is that seven to nine hours is best for most adults", Hardie added.
Previous research reveals "good" cholesterol helps to protect against conditions such as heart disease.
In an attempt to explain why poor sleep is linked to a bigger waistline and higher weight, researchers made other observations as well. For example, say the researchers, if someone goes to sleep at 11 p.m. and wakes up at 5 a.m. The reasons may be because not getting enough sleep results in less self-control, leading to poor food choices.
The study just adds further evidence toward the importance of a good night's sleep not only for overall health but to ensure you maintain a healthy weight too.
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