Sleep more weigh less in 2010

clipboard2

In 1969, there was just 1 'fat' girl in my class of 33 pupils. Yet our diet was incredibly unhealthy by modern standards; food was mostly fried (in lard!), plenty of high carb sweets; 'dripping' was my regular favourite -solidified fat and juice from cooked meat joints spread thickly on hot toast.
How come we were all so skinny?

The answer, I suggest, is that we got plenty of sleep back then.
Bedtime was 10pm for most adults, rising at 7am.
The average adult sleep duration has fallen to 6.7 hours a night, from over 8 hours, in a few decades.

Sleep duration is the key factor that controls both your appetite and is one of the key determinants of your metablic rate (how fast you burn calories).

Here's the science:
Your appetite is controlled by 2 main hormones: leptin and ghrelin. If your sleep duration is short, your leptin levels fall and ghrelin levels rise which makes your body feel : "I need more calories, I am hungry", although you do not actually need any more calories at all.

Large scale published studies have proved that sleep deprivation is causally linked to increased BMI (body mass index), and to increased appetite and 'calorie hunger'.

Ever noticed you have the 'munchies' after a late night or two?

Indeed, in one research paper, individual volunteers who had been allowed only 4 hours sleep a night, with unrestricted access to food were found to consume 1000 calories more a day, than when they had had 8 hours sleep.

It is sleep duration (not quality) that matters if you want to be slim.
The last decade has seen extensive reseach and discovery - scientists agree: lack of sleep is behind the modern obesity epidemic.

Google: leptin and ghrelin leptin and sleep deprivation
leptin and obesity leptin and BMI

The published research concludes that if you are on a diet (any diet) but are not getting enough sleep, your diet is unlikely to succeed.

My New Year's Resolution is to get to bed by 11pm, unless it is essential (eg work shift) not to do so.

Let's all sleep more and weigh less in 2010. CB2X

baby_fuzz

I'd also wager that people had more active lives back then - more walking than just a few paces from house to car, car to work, work to car, car to house...

poorandindenial

Hi clipboard2

I find this idea interesting, and have been thinking through soe of the possible co-factors that might influence this (eg less time awake = less time to eat; more sleep = more energy so more active etc etc)

Could you pop in links to the published research as I want to check out which factors they have adjusted for and what their methodology was.

Cheers muchly.

sammyjammy

I don't really do resolutions but it is one of my aims this year to get more sleep, as an internet addict I tend to use my laptop all night and then fall into bed around 1.30. I unsurprisingly have trouble sleeping for some time after that, I used to be in bed and asleep by 10pm back in the day and up just after six, my aim is to be in bed ready to sleep by 10pm hopefully getting into bed and reading for at least 15 minutes before (I used to be an avid reader but this has also dropped by the wayside.)

Interesting reading.

Sam

ali-t

The other thing is that if you are sleeping you are not eating!

Bitsy_Beans

Well that's me b*ggered then :rolleyes: If someone can stop my 4 year old and 18 month old waking in the night or waking early then I might be in with a chance of getting a decent nights sleep

salesaddict

I am going to try this for a few weeks, as I want to lose weight.
This weather and this time of year make me feel like hibernating anyway

clipboard2

Hi, thanks for your replies and interest everyone.

Poorandindenial - there is so much published research on this topic, much of it done in the last 10 years, which has been reviewed by peer group scientists, to ensure control/standardisation of other factors which could influence results eg amount of exercise taken.

If you have access to a university library, the Journal of Endocrinology has thousands of research papers on this.
If you don't have access googling around the subject will give you relevant articles/publications and links. For starters try "leptin and sleep"; "grhelin and sleep".

Although the link between sleep deprivation and obesity is well established in the scientific community, it is hardly known at all in the general public.

Quite simply, there is no money to be made of of this research finding!!
In contrast,you cannot escape the media's obsession with diet promotion, where there is a multi million pound diet and exercise industry with a vested interest in the sale of their products.

If you are interested in how the media promote the public misunderstanding of science in general, I recommend reading Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science" (2008)(from your library!). It covers a lot of the recent "health scares", and "wonder pills". You will be astonished..... CB2X

clipboard2

On the subject of the public being mislead/kept in the dark, those of you aged under 40 might be astonished to learn the extent to which clothes size labelling has been "relaxed" here over the last few decades.

For example, as a teenager aged 14-16 in the 60's, I fitted a UK size 14.
Now middle aged, 3 stone heavier and 4 inches bigger all round (chest/waist/hips) I can comfortably fit a UK size 12. :T:T

If my 2010 size 12 self was teleported back to the 1960's, I think I would have needed a size 18 or even 20. Except that I would not have been able to find such a "large" size on the high street! CB2X

fizzytrinket

i agree with the vanity sizing.

i've got clothes from the nineties size twelve and i measured the waist of them and it's 26 inches :eek:

no way is this the same as a size 12 today.

tara747

clipboard2 wrote: »

On the subject of the public being mislead/kept in the dark, those of you aged under 40 might be astonished to learn the extent to which clothes size labelling has been "relaxed" here over the last few decades.

For example, as a teenager aged 14-16 in the 60's, I fitted a UK size 14.
Now middle aged, 3 stone heavier and 4 inches bigger all round (chest/waist/hips) I can comfortably fit a UK size 12. :T:T

If my 2010 size 12 self was teleported back to the 1960's, I think I would have needed a size 18 or even 20. Except that I would not have been able to find such a "large" size on the high street! CB2X

This is so true!!!! And some shops are worse than others. Dorothy Perkins and Gap are extremely generous with their sizing. :rolleyes:

OP, I was aware of the link between sleep and obesity but am definitely going to try to get more sleep as part of my attempts to lose weight! Specifically I am going to try to spend less time online in the evenings (eek) as it does make stay up later than I should. And, at least 2 nights a week, I am going to go to bed no later than 10:30pm.

Of course, as ali-t and poorandindenial said, it is true that the more you sleep, the less time you are awake and the less time you have to eat! Also, more sleep gives you more energy for the old exercise regime. I know all this but have tried to burn the candle at both ends too much in recent years. In my teens I was devoted to sleeping and always in bed by 10pm (until I went to university ha ha ha!!!).
I must read more about this topic. Thanks for this thread, very interesting xo :T