Most of us already know we should get more sleep. But here is something that might make you take that advice a little more seriously.
Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that cutting back on sleep by just 90 minutes a night, for six weeks, was enough to add pounds to the scale. Participants who slept less gained roughly one pound on average. Their waistlines also got slightly larger during that same period.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, followed 95 adults who were already at risk for heart or metabolic disease. Each person went through two phases: six weeks of getting enough sleep, and six weeks of trimming about 90 minutes from their nightly rest. The researchers then compared what happened to their bodies in each phase.
The difference was clear. Less sleep, more weight.
For those of us who already struggle with sleep, and many people our age do, this is worth knowing. The weight changes happened without any other changes in diet or activity. Just the sleep alone made the difference. That means even when you pay attention to what you are eating, sleeping less will undermine your efforts on weight control.
It is not a punishment. It is just your body telling you something it has been saying all along. A good night of rest matters more than we sometimes give it credit for. So, if you are cutting your sleep, it might be a good idea to stop doing that and start listening to what your body tells you instead. Otherwise, you’ll just gain more weight, and we all know how hard it is to get rid of extra body weight, especially at our age.