More sleep led to lower calorie consumption in overweight, sleep-deprived patients
Study participants who increased their sleep by 1.2 hours per night after sleep hygiene counseling ate an average of 270 fewer calories per day than control participants who continued their usual schedule of sleeping less than 6.5 hours per night.
Patients who extended their sleep from less than 6.5 hours a night to 8.5 hours ate 270 fewer calories per day, a study found.
To determine the effect of sleep extension on energy intake, energy expenditure, and body weight in overweight adults in their usual home environment, researchers conducted a single-center trial from November 2014 to October 2020. Participants were adults ages 21 to 40 years with a body mass index between 25.0 and 29.9 kg/m2 who slept less than 6.5 hours per night.
After two weeks of study with usual sleep, participants were randomized to either an individualized sleep hygiene counseling session that instructed them to extend sleep to 8.5 hours or to continue their usual sleep pattern. All participants continued daily routine activities without any prescribed diet or physical activity.
Change in energy intake from baseline, objectively assessed as the sum of total energy expenditure and change in body energy stores, was the study's primary outcome. The doubly labeled water method was used to measure total energy expenditure, while change in body energy stores was computed by using regression of daily weights recorded at home and body composition changes from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Wrist actigraphy was used to monitor sleep duration. Results were published Feb. 7 by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Eighty patients participated in the study, 40 each in the treatment and control groups. The mean age was 29.8 years, and 51.3% were men. Patients randomly assigned to the sleep extension group increased their sleep by 1.2 hours per night (95% CI, 1.0 to 1.4 hours; P<0.001) versus the control group and also had a significant decrease in energy intake (−270 kcal/d; 95% CI, −393 to −147 kcal/d; P<0.001). The caloric difference arose from both a significant increase in energy intake in the control group (114.9 kcal/d; 95% CI, 29.6 to 200.2 kcal/d) and a significant decrease in energy intake in the sleep extension group (−155.5 kcal/d; 95% CI, −244.1 to −66.9 kcal/d).
Change in sleep duration was inversely correlated with the change in energy intake for all participants (r=−0.41; 95% CI, −0.59 to −0.20; P<0.001), and each 1-hour increase in sleep duration was associated with a decrease of approximately 162 kcal/d in energy intake (95% CI, −246.8 to −77.7 kcal/d; P<0.001). The intervention was not associated with any significant change in total energy expenditure, resulting in weight reduction in the sleep extension group compared to the control group. The study authors noted that a decrease in energy intake of approximately 270 calories per day would result in an approximately 12-kg weight loss over three years and “could translate into clinically meaningful weight loss and help reverse or prevent obesity.”
Another recent study, published Feb. 8 in PLOS Medicine, provided additional evidence on the health benefits of lifestyle changes. The authors used existing research data to estimate how sustained changes in the intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, refined grains, nuts, legumes, fish, eggs, milk/dairy, red meat, processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages affects life expectancy. They developed an online calculator that anyone can use to estimate the effect on life expectancy of a range of dietary changes.