Getting Extra Sleep Can Contribute To Weight Loss, U.S. Study Finds

A study shows that sleeping longer can result in weight loss without changing your diet.

According to a small clinical trial done by U.S. researchers, adding an extra hour of sleep each night can help you lose more calories.

According to the Sleep Foundation, healthy adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per night. However, some adults can get away with as few as six hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep.

The researchers found that people who sleep for less than six and a half hours a night can cut an average of 270 calories from their daily intake if they get one and a half more hours of slumber, The Guardian reports.

Researchers noticed during the study – which wasn’t intended to look at weight loss – participants’ weight dropped within two weeks of their new sleep regiment. The study included 80 adults who were between the ages of 21 and 40; they had a body mass index between 25 and 29.9. They all wore sleep tracking devices to bed and weren’t told to change their workout routine or diet.

“If healthy sleep habits are maintained over longer duration, this would lead to clinically important weight loss over time,” said Dr. Esra Tasali, of the University of Chicago’s sleep centre, The Guardian reports. “Many people are working hard to find ways to decrease their caloric intake to lose weight – well, just by sleeping more, you may be able to reduce it substantially.”