Yes, you read the headline right! Research indicates the less you sleep, the more weight you may gain. How is it that the numbers of hours you sleep can affect your weight?

“In our fast paced society, sleep is sacrificed in order to have more time to get things done.” shares Susan Mills-Gray, Nutrition & Health Specialist with MU Extension. “Unfortunately, this lack of sleep seems to be a strong factor in the challenge of managing a healthy weight”, Mills-Gray adds.

Several quality research studies have shown that sleep loss leads to higher levels of a hormone that triggers appetite, and lowers levels of a hormone that tells your body it’s full, thus leading to pounds that cling. More specifically, researchers believe that sleep loss impacts two particular hormones – ghrelin and leptin – which are thought to play a key role in the interaction between less sleep and increased weight. Ghrelin, was discovered about eight years ago and is primarily produced by the stomach, triggers appetite in humans: the more ghrelin you have, the more you want to eat. Leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells, decreases appetite and boosts metabolism: low leptin levels can lead to an increased appetite. Lack of sleep causes more ghrelin and less leptin to be produced; therefore increased appetite overall. The body wakes up hungrier – searching for food to boost energy, when adequate sleep should have provided that energy.

What’s the opportune amount of sleep in order to maintain a healthy weight? It seems to be eight hours. Let’s take look at some specific studies and their findings:

A 2006 study a the U. of Warwick Medical School studied 43,000 persons and found that people who get less than five hours of sleep per night actually double their risk of becoming obese.

Laval University of Quebec released this finding in 2006, that children who slept even an hour or two less than other children became more overweight.

Studies released in 2004 by both the University of Bristol and Stanford University School of Medicine found that those who slept fewer hours had higher levels of ghrelin and lower levels of leptin, and that these hormone changes occurred during sleep.
This link between lack of sleep and increased weight gain makes sense. After all, sleeping allows our bodies to refresh and heal, and cutting down on that process can only do our bodies more harm than good. So slow down, get a good night’s sleep and drop some weight while you sleep!

是的，你已经看到标题！研究显示睡眠越少，体重增加的越多。然而睡眠时间的长短是如何影响体重的呢？

“在快节奏的现代社会，人们往往以牺牲睡眠来获取更多的工作时间。”曼彻斯特大学的营养与健康专家苏珊 米尔斯 格林 说道，“不幸的是，缺乏睡眠的正成为健康合理体重的一种巨大的挑战因素。”

几项关于睡眠质量的研究显示睡眠的缺失可导致高荷尔蒙，而高荷尔蒙可诱发食欲；而低水平的荷尔蒙意味着它在告诉你的身体它已经饱了，进而阻止这种进食的欲望。更有意义的是，研究者发现睡眠的缺失可影响两种特殊的荷尔蒙--饥饿荷尔蒙和瘦素，这两种激素被认为是睡眠不足和体重增加之间关联的重要因素。

饥饿荷尔蒙是于大约8年前被科学家发现的，主要由胃腺体分泌，其作用是激发人体食欲。人体内的饥饿荷尔蒙越多，进食就越多。而由脂肪细胞分泌的瘦素其作用是降低人体食欲，加快新陈代谢的速度：低水平的瘦素可以导致整个食欲的增强。而缺少睡眠可以导致人体分泌更多的饥饿荷尔蒙和更少的瘦素。因此会不断增加人体食欲。缺乏睡眠的人们早晨醒来时会感到更饥饿--于是寻找食物以补充能量，而充足的睡眠应该已经为人体提供了能量。

保持健康合理体重所需的最佳睡眠时间应该是几个小时呢？八个小时应该是最合适的，那么让我们来看一看一些具体的研究结果以及其依据：

2006年瓦里克医学院调查了43，000人，发现每晚睡眠时间少于五个小时的其得肥胖症的几率高出两倍。

2006年魁北克拉瓦尔大学的研究显示睡眠时间比其它学生少一个或两个小时的超重的比较多。

2004年由布里斯托尔大学和斯坦福医学院发表的研究报告称其发现睡眠时间少的人会产生较高的饥饿荷尔蒙和较低的瘦素，而这些荷尔蒙一般在睡眠时产生。

睡眠不足和体重增加之间存在关联是可以讲得通的。总之，睡眠让我们的身体一洗疲惫，恢复精力，可减少对我们的身体有害而无益的身体的运转。所以，请慢慢躺下，睡个好觉，在睡眠中减肥吧。