The simplest way to lose weight: sleep more. The University of Chicago recently studied the effect of prolonged sleep time on calorie intake. Researchers say that a person can lose 12 kg by sleeping for three more years. The simplest way to lose weight: sleep more.

The simplest way to lose weight: sleep more 1 As we all know, before the COVID-19 epidemic, the obesity epidemic had "swept the world", and more than 2 billion people were clinically diagnosed as obese or overweight. The main cause of obesity is that long-term calorie intake exceeds energy consumption, leading to energy imbalance.

Lack of sleep caused by staying up late, jet lag and insomnia can make people fat. Because lack of sleep will cause the body to secrete a hormone that stimulates appetite, so that you can't stop eating: I want to eat supper, I want to eat high-calorie food ... Over time, the body will inevitably become fat because of excessive energy intake.

If the above view holds, can it be understood that increasing sleep time can avoid obesity?

Now, an experiment from the real world brings new evidence.

In a randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), on February 8th, Beijing time, researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that overweight young people who habitually slept less than 6.5 hours a night reduced their average daily calorie intake by 270 kilocalories after sleeping 1.2 hours a night, and lost weight during the two-week intervention period.

I lost less than 1 kg in two weeks, which seems unattractive. But this new study not only investigates the effect of long sleep on calorie intake, but more importantly, it is carried out in a real environment: all participants sleep in their own beds and are tracked to sleep with only wearable devices. Other than that, it's no different from everyday life. Fat people should eat whatever they want.

This clinical study involved 80 adults aged between 2/kloc-0 and 40. All participants' body mass index (BMI) is between 25 and 29.9, which means they are obese/overweight. They are used to sleeping for 6.5 hours or less every night.

The researchers observed participants for two weeks to establish a baseline data, and then randomly divided them into two groups. The control group continued to maintain sleep habits without any intervention, while the other group received "personalized sleep health consultation course" to extend the sleep time to about 8.5 hours.

In order to objectively track the calorie intake of participants, the researchers adopted the "double standard water" method and the change of energy storage.

After a "consultation course", the average sleep time of the participants in the intervention group increased by 1.2 hours per night. Although there is no other prescription to change lifestyle, most people's diet has been greatly reduced, and some people even reduce their intake of 500 kilocalories a day. The researchers found that for every 1 hour of sleep, the energy intake would be reduced by 1.62 kcal.

Generally speaking, compared with the control group, the intervention group that increased the sleep time 1.2 hours per night reduced the calorie intake by 270 kcal per day and lost 0.48 kg, while the control group gained an average weight of 0.39 kg (the difference between the two groups was 0.87 kg).

If this effect is maintained for a long time, it will become thinner after three years 12kg.

The researchers said that although this study did not systematically evaluate the factors that may affect sleep behavior, restricting the use of electronic devices before going to bed seems to be a key intervention.

"This is not a weight loss study," said the study's correspondent and director of the UChicago Sleep Center at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. But even in just two weeks, we have quantitative evidence that the calorie intake is reduced and there is a negative energy balance, that is, the calories consumed are less than the calories consumed. If healthy sleep habits last longer, it will lead to clinically significant weight loss. Many people are trying to find ways to reduce calorie intake. In fact, just sleeping for a while can greatly reduce calorie intake. "

The researchers said that potential mechanisms that might explain these results will be explored in the future. They believe that this work will promote new and larger-scale weight control research to determine whether extending sleep time will help to lose weight.

Previously, in a systematic meta-study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a research team from King's College London, England, showed that people who lack sleep may consume more calories the next day, resulting in an average daily intake of 385 kilocalories. This is equivalent to the heat of one and a half pancakes.

This study is consistent with this latest study, and the conclusion is that besides diet and exercise, sleep is a potentially important factor, which can effectively control weight gain.

The simplest way to lose weight: sleep more. Lack of sleep will affect our appetite and make us eat more. A meta-analysis in 20 19 years pointed out that the risk of obesity would increase by 9% with the increase of sleep time 1 hour. Since lack of sleep will make you fat, can we lose weight by extending sleep time?

In a randomized clinical trial of 80 adults published in JAMA Internal Medicine on February 7th, Dr. Esra Tasali, director of the Medical Sleep Center of the University of Chicago, and her colleagues found that overweight people who habitually sleep less than 6.5 hours a night can reduce their daily total calorie intake by 270 kilocalories after extending their sleep time by 65,438+0.2 hours through personalized sleep counseling. According to the researchers, according to this trend, a person can lose weight 12kg in three years as long as he sleeps a little longer.

This new study not only studies the effect of prolonged sleep on calorie intake, but also importantly, all the operations are carried out in a real environment, and the participants' eating habits are not manipulated or controlled. Subjects slept in their own beds, and researchers tracked their sleep with wearable devices. Other than that, they live as usual, without any dietary intervention or exercise guidance.

The mainstream view is that the main reason for the prevalence of obesity in modern society is the increase of calorie intake, not the lack of exercise. In order to objectively track the participants' calorie intake, the researchers adopted the method of "double standard water" to observe the changes of energy storage. In the water molecules of double standard water, hydrogen and oxygen are replaced by their isotopes deuterium and oxygen-18. Deuterium and oxygen-18 are naturally stable isotopes, and they are not radioactive. When the subject drinks this double-labeled water, the labeled isotope will participate in the metabolic process in the body and be excreted through urine, sweat and exhaled carbon dioxide. Researchers can calculate the energy metabolism of human body by tracking the changes of isotope peaks in urine. Dr. Dale A. Schoeller, a senior author of the study and emeritus professor of nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, believes that "this is the gold standard for objectively measuring daily energy consumption in a non-laboratory real-world environment, and it has changed the way of human obesity research".

The study lasted for *** 4 weeks, in which the first 2 weeks were used to collect baseline information about sleep and calorie intake, and the last 2 weeks were used to monitor the effect of sleep intervention.

In Tassali's view, the most surprising aspect of this study is the simplicity of intervention. "Most other laboratory studies on this topic are short-term, lasting only a few days, and the calculation of food intake is obtained by how much the subjects eat from the provided diet," she said. "In our research, we only control sleep, and participants can eat whatever they want. They don't need any food records or other means to track their nutritional intake. "

In addition, the subjects can change their bedtime habits only by receiving a sleep consultation once, thus prolonging their sleep time. Tassali added that the researchers trained each participant in sleep health, discussed their own personal sleep environment, and provided tailor-made suggestions on the changes they could make, hoping to increase their daily sleep time to 8.5 hours. In addition, the subjects did not know that they were undergoing sleep intervention, and this was not mentioned in the recruitment materials, so the researchers could capture people's real habitual sleep patterns in the baseline test.

After only one consultation, the average sleep time of the subjects increased by 1 hour (the study found that controlling the use of electronic devices before going to bed is the key to prolong sleep). Although the researchers did not stipulate that the subjects should change other lifestyles, most people's food intake decreased significantly, with an average of 270 kilocalories per day, which is equivalent to eating one cheeseburger less. Some participants even reduced their energy intake by 500 kilocalories per day.

In fact, 20 1 1 There is a study that discusses the relationship between sleep and appetite. Marie Pierre St-Onge, an associate professor of nutrition medicine at Columbia University, and her colleagues found that people who slept only four hours a night would eat more the next day, with an extra calorie of about 300 kilocalories. This coincides with the new research results of Tasali team.

In addition, sleep deprivation will increase the production of auxin, and lack of sleep will reduce the content of leptin in the body, which will lead to an increase in food intake and weight gain. To make matters worse, lack of sleep will make people want to eat foods high in salt, sugar and fat. These junk foods will stimulate the reward system in the brain and make the body fall into a vicious circle of eating more and more.

"This was not originally a weight loss study," Tassali said. "But even in just two weeks, we have quantitative evidence that calorie intake is reduced and energy balance is negative (calorie intake is less than consumption). If you keep a healthy sleep habit for a long time, it will bring about clinically important weight loss over time. Many people try very hard to find ways to reduce calorie intake-so just sleep more. " However, the author of this study also said in the paper that because this study was conducted among overweight people and excluded those who have sleep apnea or need to work at night, the observation time of calorie intake after sleep was only two weeks, so the result of "sleeping more can eat less" has certain limitations.

Finally, Tashali and her team hope to verify the potential mechanism that may explain these results, and believe that this work should stimulate new and larger-scale weight control research to determine whether prolonged sleep can support weight loss and help prevent or reverse obesity.

"In our early work, we learned that sleep is very important for appetite regulation," Tassali said. "Now we have proved that in real life, you can extend your sleep time and reduce your calorie intake without changing any other lifestyle. This can really help those who need to lose weight. "

The simplest way to lose weight: sleep more to lose weight, which can be described as a woman's lifelong career (and maybe some men's). "Shut up and open your legs" has always been regarded as the only weapon to "keep fit". Food, hotbeds ... that's simply the old enemy we need to "fight to the death" on our way to lose weight! But in the cold winter, who can resist the temptation of bed? My ear seems to echo my mother's roar again: "Why do you sleep soundly than a pig?" ! " ……

Then, the question is coming-what is the relationship between "sleep" and "obesity"?

Figure 1. Sleep (source: Pixabay)

Previous studies have confirmed that lack of sleep will affect our appetite and make us eat more food unconsciously, so that we will unconsciously "gain weight" over time. In that case, why not open your mind?

-If you sleep longer and longer, can you achieve the effect of "negative gain" and reverse the ending of "gaining weight"?

On February 7, 2022, researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center published an article entitled "The influence of prolonged sleep on objective evaluation" in JAMA Internal Medicine. Energy intake of overweight adults in real life. " This randomized clinical trial actually confirmed the above conjecture: ensuring adequate sleep does help reduce calorie intake and reduce the risk of obesity!

Figure 2. (Source: JAMA Internal Medicine)

In this study, the researchers recruited 80 overweight adult volunteers (body mass index 25-29.9), and all participants slept less than 6.5 hours a night on average. In the experiment, participants were randomly divided into two groups. For the participants in the intervention group, the researchers gave them a two-week personalized sleep improvement consultation. During this period, the average bedtime of this group of participants increased by about 1.2 hours, that is, it was generally extended from 6.5 hours to 8.5 hours.

In order to objectively understand the calorie intake of participants, the researchers used the method of "double standard water" to track and observe the changes of calorie intake and energy storage of volunteers. The so-called "double standard water" means that hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules are replaced by stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen-deuterium and oxygen-18, which naturally exist and are not radioactive.

In the experiment, volunteers drink a certain amount of double labeled water as needed, and the labeled isotope will be excreted through urine, sweat and other ways after participating in metabolism in the human body. During this period, the researchers will continuously collect urine samples of participants, and then calculate the energy metabolism and consumption of the human body by measuring the peak changes of double-labeled isotopes in urine samples. The whole study lasted for 4 weeks. The first two weeks were used to collect baseline information of sleep and calorie intake, and the second two weeks were used to monitor the effect of sleep intervention.

Figure 3. Average night sleep duration measured by wrist movement meter in control group and extended sleep group (source: Journal of Internal Medicine of American Medical Association)

The final result shows that compared with the control group, when the partners in the intervention group sleep 1.2 hours every night, their daily total calories can be reduced by about 270 kilocalories-this figure is equivalent to the calories of a cheeseburger! Some participants reduced their average daily energy intake by 500 calories!

According to the researchers, according to this trend, if a person can maintain healthy sleep habits for a long time, TA can easily and smoothly lose about 26 pounds (about 12 kg) in just three years!

-Yeah! Jane. Single! Yes! All right!

Figure 4. Effect of prolonged sleep on energy intake objectively evaluated by overweight adults in real life (source: JAMA Internal Medicine)

More importantly, the study was conducted in a real environment-all participants slept in their own beds, not in designated experimental sites. They live and work as before, and their sleep is tracked by wearable devices every day. In addition, the researchers did not interfere with other life trajectories of volunteers, such as giving them extra guidance in eating habits and exercise methods. Instead, just guide them to extend their bedtime every day.

In order to avoid prejudice, the recruitment materials did not mention that this would be a "sleep intervention" study, so the researchers were able to capture people's real sleep patterns in the baseline test in the first two weeks. In the follow-up consultation, the researchers just "give everyone good advice on healthy sleep and discuss their sleeping environment with them"-the simplicity of the intervention method also surprised everyone. Although there is no requirement to change other lifestyles, most people can greatly reduce their food intake in the following process.

Figure 5. Effects of treatment on energy intake, energy consumption and body weight

But after all, this study was conducted among overweight people, excluding the participation of some special groups (such as people who need to work at night), so the results must have certain limitations. Therefore, the research team hopes to further study and explain the potential mechanism of these results in the future. They believe that this work should stimulate new and larger-scale weight control research to determine whether prolonged sleep can support weight loss programs and help prevent or reverse obesity. After all, it is a good thing to lose weight by sleeping. Who doesn't care?

So-hey! I am talking about you! Why don't you turn off your cell phone and go to bed? !