Many companies sell supplements that they assert will help people lose weight while they sleep. I have no idea whether these supplements work or whether they’re safe.
What I do know, however, is that sleep, itself (without any supplementation), and weight loss are, indeed, related.
The relationship between sleep and weight has been studied for a long time, but it generally isn’t talked about much, either in print or online; it’s usually being drowned out by the “move more, eat less” doctrine. Indeed, moving more and eating less is one key in weight loss, but a good night’s sleep or a poor night’s sleep can actually have an effect on both the “eat less” and “move more” parts of the equation, as well as on other aspects of weight gain and loss.
Think back to the last time you didn’t sleep well. Chances are, you spent more time the next day reaching for some chips or a sweet treat at the company snack bar or vending machine. Maybe you just thought you were hungry and didn’t link your cravings to your lack of sleep the night before, but it’s that lack of sleep that contributed to your snacking.
A study published in 2015 focused on ghrelin, the hormone that signals to us that we are hungry; the more ghrelin that’s secreted in the body, the more hunger we experience. The study was a small one, testing only 19 healthy males, but the results were consistent: A poor night’s sleep increased ghrelin secretion, which then increased hunger.
A study published in 2022 of overweight adults who slept poorly on a regular basis showed that when sleep duration was extended, the participants ate an average of 270 fewer calories per day. This study was slightly larger, with 80 participants who were between the ages of 21 and 40, and the extra sleeping time was approximately 1.2 hours.
What Else Besides Ghrelin Affects Weight Gain?
It’s not just ghrelin secretion that changes as a result of sleep deprivation; other hormones that contribute to weight gain and loss are also affected.
Leptin, the hormone that tells your body that you’re not hungry anymore, decreases when you don’t get enough sleep, which means you stay hungry for longer. Insulin, the hormone that tells your cells to take glucose out of your blood and store it in your muscles and liver, is another hormone that is affected by sleep. Sleep deprivation decreases insulin sensitivity, which means that your cells won’t easily remove the glucose from your blood, which leads to more insulin and more glucose in your bloodstream, which can then get stored as fat. The process is more intricate than what I’ve described here, but expanding on the hormonal pathway is for another day.
Another reason that sleep is important for weight loss should be obvious: If you’re too tired, you won’t exercise. Even if you do exercise, you won’t have enough energy to maximize your effort.
There are more intricacies on the science of sleep and the effect of hormones on weight, and I can cover those in future posts, but by now, the message is clear that you don’t necessarily need a magic pill for weight loss. A good night’s sleep can go a long way in helping you to achieve your goals.
The Logical Report 