Sleep Deprivation Makes You Fat
As I sit on a flight from Dubai to London … it’s 3:30 AM (in whatever time zone I’m currently in). And while I should be tired, my sleep is so far off from normal, I’m wide awake and probably disturbing the other passengers with my computer. Sorry.
But how does this sleep deprivation affect me on a physiological level? I have been traveling for the last couple weeks — Kara and I spoke in Iceland last week and then I headed to Indonesia, which is 11 hours ahead of our normal EST. As an aside, excited for Kara who was invited as the first woman speaker from the US to speak at the Keilir Academy in Iceland.
I digress.
Now on my way back, I just keep resetting my watch at every stop … as I come back to the US. When I land in London, I’ll once again set my watch as we’re landing at 7 AM … and then taking off again at 10 AM. I’ll certainly not know where I am when I finally get home.
So why does all this matter? We’ve talked before about the importance of sleep when trying to lose weight. Very simply, sleep more, weigh less … with most research suggesting the 8 hour mark being ideal for losing and maintaining your body weight.
But just when you think the "chapter" in this story is closed, an interesting study comes out …
… showing that even ACUTE sleep deprivation can affect body weight! I’m in trouble!
Check this out:
The study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared 2 levels of sleep — 4 hours vs. 8 hours — and measured food intake the following day.
They learned after just a single night of getting just 4 hours of sleep (sleep deprivation) the subjects at 22% (an average of 559 calories) more the following day compared to the group who got just 8 hours of sleep!
While this short term study was small, it definitely opens the door for more research on this topic to see if continued sleep deprivation (defined as 4 hours in this study) and subsequent overeating could be a major cause of obesity.
Bottom Line:
Burning the candle at both ends and thinking just "1 night of lack of sleep won’t hurt me." Sleep is an easy part of the equation to control — even aiming for just 1 more hour each night will help. Every little bit of additional sleep helps!
Hoping I can get back on track quickly myself…
June 14th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Plus how much perkier and happier will you be all day long too?
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June 14th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Chris and Kara,
Thanks for touching on this subject…..it seems to be a very hot topic lately and obviously a very large part of the weight puzzle, more so than people realize!!
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June 14th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
We’ve all done it. You flip through all the fashion magazines, wishing you could look just a little more like some of those girls. But no matter what you do, you can’t seem to squeeze into that size 0 (coz really, who can???) Instead of torturing yourself with goals that are unachievable, why not start focusing on leading a healthier, happier lifestyle? Take a look at what’s on the minds of girls in regards to body image and find out what can be done about your body insecurities! Visit here! http://www.directoryofnaturalhealth.com/natural-health-topics/weight-loss-and-the-dream-for-a-perfect-body
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May 3rd, 2011 at 9:52 am
I found your blog in google. I want to print this but i could not find any print button
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May 22nd, 2011 at 2:22 am
This is nice post. Sleep is really an important part of our life. There are a lot of benefits that you get out of it. It’s for muscle repair, maintaining normal levels of blood pressure, good for our immune system and also for losing weight. Having adequate sleep will help control your appetite and decrease the production of hormone called ghrelin which is responsible for stimulating your appetite. So start sleeping well tonight and see the positive results.
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September 30th, 2011 at 10:58 am
But WHY does less sleep actually lead to gaining weight? On the cellular level… WHY does the person eat more or retain more body fat with less sleep???
What is the science behind it??
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
October 10th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
While there are some hormonal changes with sleep (or lack thereof), a lot of it seems to come down to simply eating more because you have more time awake, then you’re tired so eating more to boost energy subsequent days, too tired to exercise, etc.
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September 30th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
It really works! Thanks…
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