In last week’s column, I touched on tips for a better night’s rest and subsequently received numerous emails on the subject. In many of them persons said that they do get adequate rest but more often than not only on weekends, for obvious work/school-related reasons.
So, does sleeping in on weekends help you make up for poor weekday sleep? Or does it just make you fatter? Science has taken a look.
Sleep and weight gain
No sleep, no gains in the gym, or losses if we’re talking about fat loss.
A recent meta-study (a study of studies) came to the conclusion that most people need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, and that virtually everyone who slept 6 hours or less per night wound up suffering from chronic non communicable diseases like hypertension, stroke, diabetes and various heart problems, among other health issues.
But what about total weekly sleep? Can you make up for missed hours by sleeping in on the weekends through what the researchers call “catch-up” sleep? Over the years, there have been several scholarly papers written which challenged this notion. However, a new study has produced different results. The scientists specifically wanted to know if there was a relationship between BMI (body mass index, which is a bit crude, but works okay for non-athletes) and the amount of catch-up sleep on the weekend. Lack of sleep is associated with fat gain. But if subjects slept in on the weekend, would they be leaner?
The study and results
Inadequate sleep messes with you by increasing the risk of obesity and hosing your metabolism via increases in ghrelin and reductions of leptin levels. This leads to increased hunger, appetite, cravings and the concomitant high caloric intake along with poor glucose use, none of which is good.
In the new study, the researchers enrolled 2,836 subjects. After an analysis of their sleep habits, they divided them into weekend catch-up sleepers (CUS) and non-CUS groups.
The group that slept in on the weekend had a predicted BMI that was significantly lower than the non-CUS group. The catch-up sleepers actually slept less on weekdays but achieved more sleep across the week by sleeping in on the weekends.
The researchers concluded: “Compensatory sleep extension on weekends may have a protective role against weight gain due to chronic partial sleep loss.”
So, try to sleep as much as you can, but if you find yourself not getting enough sleep during the week, sleep in on the weekend or take naps during the day if you can fit them in to add to your weekly total hours and reduce the risk of fat gain.