Sleep is important for weight control

MSNBC has an article today about a report in the journal aptly titled “Sleep”. According to the 6 week study those that slept too much or not enough gained weight.

Hours in the sack may have more to do with your weight than hours in the gym, finds a new study that shows too little – or too much – shuteye is a major factor in obesity.

Previous research has found that lack of sleep is associated with weight gain, but it was unclear whether the sleep problems drove the weight increase or vice versa.

To get a better handle on this chicken-or-egg issue, Canadian researchers tracked how people’s sleep patterns affected their weight over a six-year period. In the study, which appears in Tuesday’s issue of the journal Sleep, those getting six hours or less of shuteye nightly were more likely to become overweight or obese compared to those getting a solid eight hours of nightly slumber. And surprisingly, those getting nine or more hours of sleep were also more likely to become overweight or obese.

Do you monitor your sleep? I know that I have rules around my sleep that I try to live by. If I get less than seven hours sleep for more than four day I know that i will have trouble concentrating and will lose my endurance and strength. On the other hand I never get more than two nights in a row of more than eight hours sleep I also feel sluggish. A bit of a tight rule I know but it works great for me.

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