Weight-loss experts have long recommended two simple (but not easy) strategies: “Move more, eat less.” But new research suggests a third recommendation is equally important: “Sleep well.”
Canadian health experts who reviewed a series of studies on sleep patterns and weight loss concluded there is significant scientific evidence that getting adequate shut-eye is as important to shedding pounds – and keeping them off – as the recommended mix of diet and exercise.
In a commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the researchers concluded lack of sleep increases the stimulus to consume more food and increases appetite-regulating hormones.
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"The solution [to weight loss] is not as simple as 'eat less, move more, sleep more,'" said Drs. Jean-Phillippe Chaput, of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and Angelo Tremblay, of Laval University in Quebec.
"However, an accumulating body of evidence suggests that sleeping habits should not be overlooked when prescribing a weight-reduction program to a patient with obesity. Sleep should be included as part of the lifestyle package that traditionally has focused on diet and physical activity."
In the article, the authors cited their own recently published research that found that total sleep time and quality of sleep predicted the loss of fat in people enrolled in a weight loss program.
They also noted the Canadian Obesity Network has included adequate sleep in its new set of obesity management tools for physicians.
SPECIAL: These 5 Things Flush 40 lbs. of Fat Out of Your Body — Read More.