▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor
If you ask who is prone to gaining weight, many people may say that people who eat more, move less, and sleep more.
Indeed, if the eating habits are unhealthy and physically inactive, it will cause excessive energy intake and consumption, which will lead to weight gain and obesity.
But the relationship between sleep and obesity may be contrary to everyone's understanding. A growing body of research has found that not getting enough sleep can also lead to weight gain.
Recently, a randomized cross-controlled clinical trial published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that not sleeping enough increased energy intake, while energy expenditure changed little, resulting in weight gain, especially a significant increase in visceral fat accumulation.
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Researchers from Mayo Clinic (formerly the Mayo Clinic) conducted an intervention study of 12 healthy participants, aged between 19-39 years old, and none of whom were obese, with 9 participants male.
The trial had a 21-day duration and consisted of a 4-day adaptation period, a 14-day trial period, and a 3-day recovery period:
During the first 4 days of adaptation, all participants were able to sleep 9 hours a night.
After entering the trial period, the participants were randomly divided into 2 groups— the sleep restriction group, the former of which was controlled to sleep at 4 hours per night, and the latter was still 9 hours a night.
Upon entering the recovery period, all participants slept 9 hours per night.
After 3 months, all participants were assigned to the opposite group during the trial period for another 21-day trial.
Throughout the trial, all participants were free to choose which foods to eat and how much to eat. At the same time, the researchers also measured the participants' caloric intake and digestion, weight changes, fat (including visceral fat and abdominal fat) distribution, and appetite-related biomarker levels.
The researchers measured and measured that participants in the sleep-restricted group during the trial period had an average daily energy intake of 308 Kcal and an increase of about 13 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in protein and fat, compared to the adaptation period. Especially early in sleep restriction, energy intake increases even more and then gradually decreases to levels during the recovery period.
But throughout the trial, the participants' energy consumption did not change significantly. This meant that after the participants were restricted to sleep, their energy intake increased, but their energy expenditure did not decrease.
The test results showed that although the participants gained less weight, only 0.5 kg, there was a significant increase in abdominal fat and visceral fat. After sleep restriction, participants increased their abdominal fat by about 9 percent and their abdominal visceral fat by about 11 percent. After entering the recovery period, the increase in abdominal and visceral fat tended to flatten out.
The researchers analyzed that sleep deprivation may have an effect on fat in the human body through a variety of pathways. For example, it affects the level of leptin and ghrelin, increases appetite and hunger; it also affects people's food choices, like to eat high-calorie foods, etc. However, the relevant mechanisms are not yet clear, and the researchers believe that more research is needed to explore the relevant mechanisms and determine whether prolonging sleep time can reverse the accumulation of abdominal fat caused by lack of sleep.
The study concludes that sleep deprivation is becoming a common phenomenon. The findings of this study suggest that even among younger, healthy, and relatively lean participants, reduced sleep duration was associated with increased energy intake, a slight increase in weight, and a significant increase in abdominal fat accumulation. For those who are sleep deprived, behavioral interventions, such as increased exercise and healthy eating, should be undertaken to improve health.
Study corresponding author Dr. Virend K. Somers of Myoyou Medical International points out that often, fat accumulates preferentially under the skin. However, sleep deprivation appears to lead to a preferential accumulation of fat around internal organs, a more dangerous condition that can adversely affect organs such as the liver and heart, increasing the risk of disease.
"What's more, while energy intake and weight have decreased during the recovery period, visceral fat continues to increase." This means that sleep deprivation is an unrecognized new factor that triggers visceral fat accumulation, and at least for a short time, sleep supplementation does not reverse visceral fat accumulation. In the long run, these findings suggest that sleep deprivation can also lead to epidemics of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disease. Dr. Somers added.
Resources
[1] Naima Covassin, et al.,(2022). Effects of Experimental Sleep Restriction on Energy Intake, Energy Expenditure, and Visceral Obesity. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.01.038.
[2] Lack of sleep increases unhealthy abdominal fat. Retrieved Mar 31 ,2022,from https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/947933
[3] Sleep Deprivation Sends Fat to the Belly. Retrieved Mar 31 ,2022,from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/971063
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