You’ve been eating healthy and exercising to lose weight, but are you getting enough sleep?
There’s new evidence that disrupted sleep or an insufficient amount of sleep can impede your efforts to lose weight.
The research
The researchers looked at the data from nearly 2,000 men and women over the course of 12 months. The participants:
- Were all over 65
- Were either overweight or obese
- Had metabolic syndrome (i.e., high blood pressure, increased insulin, low blood lipids, and low glucose tolerance)
The participants engaged in an intensive weight-loss program for all 12 months. They followed a Mediterranean-type diet and increased the amount of exercise they did. The volunteers also enrolled in behavioral support sessions to help them make good lifestyle choices and develop healthy habits.
During the year, the scientists noted any weight gain or loss and measured the participants’ body fat. They also noted how much sleep the volunteers got and the quality of sleep.
The results
At the end of the study, the researchers found that people who were overweight and didn’t sleep well lost less weight than people who were overweight but slept fine. More specifically, the team found that people who reported having regular sleep hours had lost more weight than those who said they didn’t sleep the same number of hours every night.
As for quantity of sleep, the participants who got less than 6 hours of sleep had less of a reduction in their waist size compared to people who reported that they got 7 to 9 hours of sleep.
“The findings of our study highlight the importance of sleep characteristics on weight and adiposity responses to lifestyle intervention programs in elders with metabolic syndrome,” explains Professor Jodi Salas-Salvado, a lead researcher on the study. “Future lifestyle interventions aiming at weight loss should promote adequate sleep and a regular sleep pattern.”
