Regarding weight loss management, I believe Sleep is the most neglected part. People often talk about that self-made ratio of 80% diet and 20% workout for weight loss, but no one thinks about how Sleep is vital in lowering body fat. As we know, we get bigger, leaner, and stronger while recovering, not working out in the gym. We must understand that Sleep is the most effective rejuvenating tool we have reality available to us. In this blog, I will cover how Sleep can influence your weight loss journey and answer whether sleep deprivation makes you gain weight or not?
"Sleep is the best meditation." _Dalai Lama
Depending on their fitness goals, people often ask me how much bedtime is enough for them. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all number that would apply to everyone. Even 6 hours of Sleep for some people is quite enough; on the other hand, some feel tired and lazy all day, even after having 8-9 hours of Sleep. Regarding weight loss, researchers worldwide believe sleeping more is better for lowering body fat. Let’s examine some research studies to establish how Sleep affects weight gain?
A study titled ‘”Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity” was conducted in 2010 on 10 overweight, middle-aged, and moderately healthy participants. The study’s objective was to determine whether sleep restriction attenuates the effect of a reduced-calorie diet on excess adiposity.
The results of the study were as follows-
As shown in the above diagram, subjects in the group sleeping for 8.5 hours lost 50/50 fat and lean mass, whereas participants in the 5.5 hours sleep group lost 20/80 fat and lean muscle mass. In other words, the 8.5-hour group lost 2.33x more fat than the 5.5-hour group, and the 5.5-hour group lost 1.6x more lean mass than the 8.5-hour group. Sleep deprivation results in more hunger because of the increased production of a hormone called ghrelin, which promotes appetite.
There are a few limitations of this study. First of all, all participants were sedentary. The loss of lean muscle mass would have been lower if they were involved in resistance training while dieting. Secondly, protein intake was much lower ( 65 grams per day) than the recommended protein intake on a calorie-restricted diet. It is possible that a high protein diet and resistance training would help mitigate the loss of lean muscle mass in this case, but even when sleep deprivation causes Acylated ghrelin, which reduces energy expenditure, stimulates hunger and food intake, and promotes fat retention. When you sleep less, your body burns more calories from stored glycogen and protein and less from body fat.
2. Scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that “not getting enough sleep could hormonally handicap you in your quest to lower your body fat.”
3. A randomized controlled trial published in the National Library of Medicine discovered that “acute sleep loss enhances hedonic stimulus processing in the brain underlying the drive to consume food.”
4. A study, ‘ Influence of partial sleep deprivation on energy balance and insulin sensitivity in healthy women, ‘ published in the National Library of Medicine, found that “Short-term sleep deprivation increased energy intake and led to a net weight gain in women.”
5. Kamal Patel states, “Sleep is essential and crucial alongside diet and exercise. Proper sleep habits help sustain many biological processes, and bad Sleep can cause these processes to be suboptimal or even malfunction.”
6. A study published in the Journal of Immunology found that the “immune system- our body’s defence mechanism is re-fortified during sleep.”
7. A study at the University of Chicago found that sleep deprivation increases leptin levels. They took 12 healthy men aged between 20-30, and during this study for 2 days, they were required to sleep for an extended period, and on another two days, they were asked to sleep for only four hours. The researchers found that on days when participants slept only 4 hours per day, their leptin levels dropped by 18%, increasing hunger by 23%. More interestingly, researchers concluded that this increase in appetite was for calorie-dense foods like sweets, high carbs, and fat foods. Sleep-deprived participants chose snacks with twice as much fat as those who slept at least 8 hours.
8. Researchers found that sleep deprivation also triggers a spike in cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that signals the brain to conserve energy to fuel walking hours. Increased cortisol levels decrease the amount of weight loss from fat.
If you want to lose fat and build muscle, stay in bed a bit longer, as evidence suggests that a good night’s Sleep will optimize the effectiveness of your training and nutrition. If, for any reason, you can not get 7-8 hours of Sleep during the night, then try to take a siesta for 30-45 minutes before your training. It will improve your performance during a training session. Many proven ways help in increasing sleep quality, which I will cover in the next part.
Bosy-Westphal A, Hinrichs S, Jauch-Chara K, Hitze B, Later W, Wilms B, Settler U, Peters A, Kiosz D, Muller MJ. The influence of partial sleep deprivation on healthy women’s energy balance and insulin sensitivity. Obes Facts. 2008;1(5):266-73. DOI: 10.1159/000158874. Epub 2008 Oct 23. PMID: 20054188; PMCID: PMC6515888.
Benedict C, Brooks SJ, O’Daly OG, Almèn MS, Morell A, Åberg K, Gingnell M, Schultes B, Hallschmid M, Broman JE, Larsson EM, Schiöth HB. Acute sleep deprivation enhances the brain’s response to hedonic food stimuli: an fMRI study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Mar;97(3): E443-7. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2011-2759. Epub 2012 Jan 18. PMID: 22259064.
Ambardekar, N. (2020, July 18). Sleep More, Weigh Less. Retrieved from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/diet/sleep-and-weight-loss#1
Nuckols, G. (2014, April 9). Sleep, Pt 1: Wrecking Your Diet, One Night At a Time. Retrieved from Stronger by Science: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/sleep-pt-1/.
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