Get Sleep, Get Lean!

“Middle-age, overweight patients who slept 8.5 hours burned more fat than those who slept just 5.5 hours, according to Plamen D. Penev, MD, PhD, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues, who reported their findings in the Oct. 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.” Participants in the sleep deprivation group were hungrier and expended less energy to compensate for reduced sleep.

Interestingly, the hormone ghrelin was found to increase in the sleep deprived participants. Ghrelin is a hormone produced in the stomach the function of which is to tell the brain that the body has to be fed. Ghrelin levels increase before eating and decrease after. 

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