People who do not get enough sleep are vulnerable to obesity
People who do not get enough sleep may end up consuming as many as 385 extra kilocalories (kcal) the following day, thus leading to become vulnerable to getting obesity, say researchers.
Reduced sleep is one of the most common and more potentially modifiable health risks in the current times when the chronic sleep loss has become a common phenomenon.
The findings have further shown that getting too little sleep affects the body’s hormones, which further motivates people to eat more and to feel full.
Disrupt circadian rhythm or internal body clock
The lack of sleep further leads to disrupt the circadian rhythm or internal body clock and can thus affect body’s regulation of leptin — the “satiety” hormone and ghrelin — the “hunger” hormone which further leads to oebesity, the researchers said.
“Our results highlighted that sleep is a potential third factor, in addition to diet and exercise, to target weight gain more effectively,” said lead author Haya Al Khatib from King’s College London.
The study found that partial sleep deprivation would result in a large net increased energy intake of 385 kcal per day.
“If long-term sleep deprivation continues to further result in an increased calorie intake of this magnitude, it may contribute to weight gain or obesity,” added Gerda Pot from King’s College London.
Further, the study has shown that there was a small shift in what sleep deprived people ate — they had proportionately higher fat and an amount of lower protein intakes, but no change in carbohydrate intake.
“The main cause of obesity is an imbalance between calorie intake and expenditure and this study adds to further accumulating evidence that sleep deprivation could contribute to this imbalance. So there may be some truth in the saying early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wise,” Pot said, in the systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 studies with a total of 172 participants.
The study has been published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
