A few lost minutes of sleep here and there is something we all overlook.
But now, scientists have revealed it could be driving subtle weight gain – and putting you at risk of numerous health conditions.
In a recent study, researchers at Columbia University recruited nearly 100 adults and asked half of them to sleep 80 minutes less per night for six weeks.
The participants stayed up later in the evenings, mirroring typical sleep loss, but woke around the same time each morning.
At the end of the six weeks, the team found that those who slept less had gained 1lb while those who slept as normal – seven to eight hours a night – weighed the same.
The sleep-restricted participants also recorded nearly 20 minutes less of activity during the day, despite being awake longer, than those who slept more.
Dr Faris Zuraikat, a nutritionist and first author of the study, said: ‘While the one-pound weight gain observed with modest sleep curtailment is not overwhelming, it is important to remember this is occurring over just six weeks.
‘Our study was designed to mimic sleep patterns that most adults experience chronically.
Scientists have found that losing just 80 minutes of sleep per night regularly could cause someone to gain weight
‘When extrapolated to a full year, we would expect that losing less than an hour and a half of sleep per night could result in clinically meaningful weight gain.’
Nearly a third of Americans struggle to get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep every night.
Alongside weight gain, other studies have also suggested this sleep loss raises the risk of everything from type 2 diabetes to dementia.
Sleep is a vital process that allows the body and brain to self-repair and recover from the day and clear out toxic proteins that could lead to multiple diseases.
In the study, researchers in New York recruited adults who slept for seven to eight hours per night on average.
Everyone slept for seven to eight hours at the start. Those in the restricted sleep group slept for five hours and 40 minutes to six hours and 40 minutes per night during the study.
Although they gained weight, the restricted sleep group still completed the same amount of moderate and vigorous activity as those who slept the standard hours.
They had no changes to their body fat or muscle mass, but researchers said this may have been because the study was not long enough to detect these changes.
The scientists warned that if someone gained a pound after just six weeks of sleep restriction, this could have a meaningful impact overtime
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Their calorie consumption was not tracked.
It was not clear why a chronic sleep reduction led to weight gain, but researchers said this could be because it interferes with hormones.
Previous studies have shown that a lack of sleep causes the hunger hormone leptin to rise, which drives people to eat more food.
Previous research had shown that a chronic lack of sleep, losing four hours or more, led to weight gain.
But this paper was among the first to show that weight gain could also happen in people who had even mild sleep restriction.
‘Our study shows that getting adequate sleep may help reduce the risk of weight gain and obesity-related conditions like heart disease and diabetes,’ said Dr Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutritionist who led the study.
‘People tend to gain weight over the course of their adulthood, and obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease.
‘By focusing on eating a healthier diet and getting more physical activity to offset weight gain is simplistic and can be difficult to maintain.’
The study was only small and would need to be repeated in a larger group of adults to confirm its findings.
The paper was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
