The mild bedtime mistake that can make you gain weight: study

There really is an easy trick to curbing weight gain and reducing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.All it requires is getting to bed on time.New research shows that losing even just a bit of sleep over time can mean putting on a pound of weight in six weeks.

At that rate, weight gain would be nearly nine pounds over a year.Most of the research on sleep deprivation in the past were done under dramatic conditions, like only allowing participants a maximum of four hours of sleep.Real-life loss of sleep happens at a smaller scale over a longer period of time.This kind of mild sleep deprivation affects about 30% of adults, researchers said.

This study looked at adults who normally get seven to eight hours of sleep a night and told them to delay their sleep time by 90 minutes.While only getting five to six hours of sleep, participants gained one pound on average over six weeks.“When extrapolated to a full year, we would expect that losing less than an hour and a half of sleep per night could result in clinically meaningful weight gain,” said author Faris Zuraikat, assistant professor of nutritional medicine in Columbia’s Department of Medicine and Institute for Human Nutrition.Overall, participants also spent less time active during their day while experiencing mild sleep deprivation — about 17 additional minutes a day spent sitting or otherwise sedentary.For men and postmenopausal women, that number nearly doubled to 30 minutes a day.“Even when we accounted for the fact that they were awake longer when sleep was shortened, participants spent more time being inactive than when they got adequate sleep,” Zuraikat says. “This is notable, as people who are more sedentary have elevated risk for chronic diseases.” Poor sleep creates behavior changes.

You become tired and less motivated to be active.Over time, you’ll also reach for rich, sweet and fatty foods.It also directly affects your body.Getting less than seven hours o...