Sleep More, Eat Less, Lose Weight

The other day I read about yet another new diet—this one an anti-carb plan imported from France.  Do you ever feel like everywhere you look there’s some new fad diet?  Some claim you should only eat protein, others that you should only eat raw greens, and still others think you should only consume liquids.  Most of these diet plans are ineffective (and some of them seem downright dangerous), and they all overlook one important aspect that can affect what and how much we eat: sleep.

The connection between sleep and diet may seem surprising.  We’ve known for a while, though, that there is a fairly well-established link between sleep deprivation  and diabetes and obesity.   A new study out of Columbia University may help explain this connection.  The study’s findings suggest that sleep deprivation may actually make you eat more.  They found that:

• People who are sleep-deprived will eat more foods high in fat and protein
• When compared to other women who had slept nine hours, women who had only slept four hours consumed 329 more calories on average
• When compared to other men who had slept nine hours, men who had only slept four hours consumed 263 more calories on average

Notice the difference between the men and women?  Interestingly, while both men and women ate more high-protein food, sleep-deprived women ate on average 31 more grams of fat than did their male counterparts.  We know that women tend to sleep more poorly than men—it seems that the increase in hunger due to lack of sleep is also not equal.   Though the study only looked at adults, other research shows that this desire to eat more food (especially junk food) is also a problem for teens.

There are several possible reasons that people with less sleep eat more.   Less sleep leads to poor judgment in many situations, and if you’re very tired throughout the day you may either eat more food to attempt to stay awake, or constantly look for quick fixes like energy drinks and bars, which are more often than not full of sugar and calories (they also can make it even more difficult to fall asleep, which makes the problem of eating because of sleep deprivation that much worse).  Also, time spent sleeping is time you aren’t eating—if you’re up late at night, you may be likely to snack.

Do you find that you eat more throughout the day after a bad night’s sleep?  Are you tired, both from lack of sleep and of useless fad-diets?  It might be time for a diet that focuses not only on what you eat, but how you sleep.

 I am very excited about my new book, coming out on May 10^th:-The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight through Better Sleep.  I wrote this book to help you learn more about how sleep can boost your metabolism, decrease your hunger, and increase your energy and willpower.  The science is there to overwhelming  show that better sleep can help you be healthier, happier, and even thinner.

For you and your whole family, a solid start to a healthy body is just a good night’s sleep away.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™
twitter: @thesleepdoctor
Facebook: 

www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

 

Comments

[Mana kai]

Hello Doctor Breus,
I would like to add that guided sleep meditation helps me to sleep better. I feel as if I am being pampered to sleep. I listen to many guided meditation and I would like to enclose one that I found recently that helps me to fall asleep and sleep better.
http://www.ztrance.com/
Thank you for your work.
Mana

[Robert]

It seems to me that the title of this article/blog is a bit misleading. Some people will read the words "sleep more" and equate the length of time spent in bed as being the same as getting good quality sleep. As someone with sleep apnea I can attest that the number of hours spent lying in bed asleep does not mean that one will feel rested in the morning. Before getting a cpap machine I was sleeping 12 hours a night but still feeling exhausted in the morning. After getting a cpap machine I am now getting better quality sleep and feeling better in the morning.

Perhaps the title should say, "Sleep better, eat less, lose weight".

[Claire Smyth]

Hi Michael

I read with extreme interest about your new book called:
"-The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight through Better Sleep."

With regards to the questions that you post in your article, here are my replies.

a) Do you find that you eat more throughout the day after a bad night’s sleep? - Yes. I do shift work and am tired a lot of the time. I find also that I put on too much weight.

b) Are you tired, both from lack of sleep and of useless fad-diets? - I have tried most diets and for me they just do not work.

This is why I am interested in your book.

Claire

[Insomnia Relief]

Well noted point about getting a good sleep & a health life.
thanks for sharing the post.