Late Sleepers May Be More Prone To Weight Gain

Thanks to science, recent studies have established that people who sleep late tend to consume extra daily calories. That could spell disaster for people who have predisposed genetics that put them at risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and a whole myriad of other debilitating or deadly diseases. According to author Kelly Glazer Baron, a health psychologist and a neurology instructor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, "The extra daily calories can mean a significant amount of weight gain - two pounds per month - if they are not balanced by more exercise."

The study conducted by Northwestern Medicine has found that late sleepers consume 248 more calories a day, on average. Those calories were also consumed predominantly late in the evening and at night. “The study followed 51 participants, 23 late sleepers and 28 normal sleepers, with an average age of 30 for a week. The participants wore a wrist actigraph to calculate their sleep and activity levels and completed food consumption diaries. Late sleepers went to sleep at an average time of 3:45 am and woke up by 10:45 am, ate breakfast at noon, lunch at 2:30 pm, dinner at 8:15 pm and a final meal at 10:00 pm. Normal sleepers on average were up by 8:00 am, ate breakfast by 9:00 am, lunch at 1:00 pm, dinner at 7:00 pm, a last snack at 8:30 pm and were asleep by 12:30 am. The study showed that in addition to the number of calories consumed each day, the timing was important. Those who ate after 8:00 pm were more likely to have a higher BMI, even after controlling for sleep timing and duration.”

What does that mean for you, if you are a late sleeper? You should be sure to get plenty of exercise, and add five 12 ounce glasses of water to your diet a day, in order to curb overeating and maintain a balanced healthy lifestyle - even if you like to sleep late!

For more great sleep news, check out Holy Sheets! The sleep blog that brings you all the latest and greatest when it comes to getting one fabulous night’s sleep.

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