Sleep More Weigh Less

DIETERS can improve their chances of losing weight by ensuring that they get a good night's sleep.

An adequate night's sleep not only increases fat loss for a dieter but can help control feelings of hunger, according to the findings of new research published yesterday.

The University of Chicago study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, studied 10 people aged 35 to 49 years old ranging from overweight to obese who were placed on a calorie-restricted diet.

The volunteers underwent a fortnight where they spent eight- and- a-half hours in bed a night getting an average of seven hours and 25 minutes of sleep.

They also under went a fortnight where they were given five-and- a-half hours in bed, with an average of five hours and 14 minutes sleep a night.

The study found that the dieters lost the same amount, 6.6lb, or around 3kg, during each 14-day session, if they had a full night's sleep or less.

But when they got adequate sleep, more than half of the weight they lost was fat, compared with only a quarter when they cut back on sleep.

Getting adequate sleep also helped to control the dieters' hunger, the study showed.

Average levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and reduces energy expenditure, did not change when dieters spent eight- and-a-half hours in bed.

When they spent five-and-a- half hours in bed, ghrelin levels in the dieters rose over the two weeks.

The volunteers followed a balanced diet with calories restricted to 90% of what each person would have needed to maintain his or her weight without exercise.

The number of calories they consumed over both fortnights, about 1450 per day, was kept the same.

Plamen Penev, study director and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, said: "Cutting back on sleep, a behaviour that is ubiquitous in modern society, appears to compromise efforts to lose fat through dieting."

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