Researchers Just Learned More About The Link Between Sleep & Caloric Intake

For this four-week randomized clinical trial, a team of researchers analyzed the sleeping and dietary patterns of 80 adults who regularly slept 6.5 hours or less per night (i.e., considered to be "short", inadequate amounts of sleep). After a two-week baseline period, half of the group was coached through two weeks of personalized sleep hygiene counseling with the goal of helping them extend their daily snooze to at least 8.5 hours. Meanwhile, the other half of the group continued with their normal sleep routines.

As lead author of the study Esra Tasali, M.D., explained in a news release, previous research has already shown that not getting enough sleep can lead to overeating and, subsequently, weight gain. So the question here, he says, was, "If this is what happens with sleep loss, can we extend sleep and reverse some of these adverse outcomes?"

Based on the findings, it would seem the team's hypothesis proved true. Participants who increased their sleep duration by at least an hour saw a reduction in caloric intake by an average of 270 calories per day.

This is notable, given the only intervention was the sleep hygiene counseling. As Tasali notes, "This was not a weight-loss study but even within just two weeks, we have quantified evidence showing a decrease in caloric intake and a negative energy balance (caloric intake is less than calories burned)."