Does sleeping more help lose weight?

For some who aren't sleeping much at all, the answer seems to be yes. Read on for more ...

Observational studies suggest that shorter sleeps may be an important risk factor for becoming overweight and obese. Previous studies have shown that each hour of sleep missed, compared to seven hours, increases obesity risk by 9%. One potential explanation for this relationship is that sleep loss may lead to increased calorie consumption, which then leads to weight gain.

Photo by Hernan Sanchez on Unsplash

According to one study, restricting your sleep to less than five hour per night increased your daily energy intake by around two hundred calories. However, it’s not clear whether, and to what degree, increasing your sleep duration in a real-world setting decreases your energy intake.

Here's a summary of the study that looked into this possibility.