Not By Diet Alone: Overweight People May Become Thinner by Sleeping Extra Hour

The researchers touted their study as game-changing because it was carried out in a real-world setting rather than a laboratory. The overweight participants, who habitually slept in their own beds fewer than 6.5 hours a night, managed to add an extra 1.2 hours of sleep after they underwent counselling to improve their sleeping habits.

If you are poised and ready to tackle your weight issues, rightfully focus on sticking to a relevant diet and workout regimen to fix the issue. But as it turns out getting enough shut-eye may also be of help.

A new study has revealed that getting an extra hour of sleep each night could help people packing a bit of extra weight eat 270 fewer calories each day, the equivalent of three chocolate biscuits. This means that over three years it could result in a weight loss of 26 pounds (approximately 11 kg).

A team of scientists from the University of Chicago initiated the research to track sleep duration and calorie intake among 80 overweight people aged 21 to 40.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, found that those participants who slept less than 6.5 hours a night ultimately increased their sleep duration by an extra 1.2 hours per night after undergoing a personalised counselling session on shut-eye hygiene.

During the session, the participants received some useful tips on how to sleep well each night, such as dimming the lights and not looking at mobile phones or laptops for at least 30 minutes before sleeping.

The study's lead author Esra Tasali commented on the results by saying that "if healthy sleeping habits are maintained over a longer duration, this would lead to clinically important weight loss over time".

Tasali added that the study deliberately avoided restrictive diets or limiting the lifestyles of those who took part in it, stressing that the scientists "only manipulated sleep" and that the participants "could eat whatever they wanted to".

"We simply coached each individual on good sleep hygiene, and discussed their own personal sleep environments, providing tailored advice on changes they could make to improve their sleep duration", she stated.