Sleep deprivation raises harmful abdominal fat
Lack of sleep increases unhealthy abdominal fat
ROCHESTER, Minn. – According to a new Mayo Clinic study, a lack of sleep mixed with easy availability of food increases calorie consumption and, as a result, fat buildup, particularly harmful belly fat.
A randomized controlled crossover study conducted by Naima Covassin, Ph.D., a cardiovascular medicine researcher at Mayo Clinic, found that not getting enough sleep resulted in a 9% increase in total abdominal fat area and an 11% increase in abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is a kind of fat that forms deep within the belly surrounding internal organs and is associated with cardiac and metabolic problems.
The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and its findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Sleep deprivation is frequently a behavior choice, and it has grown increasingly common. More than one-third of individuals in the United States do not get enough sleep on a regular basis, owing in part to shift work and the use of smart gadgets and social networks during traditional sleep periods. Furthermore, people tend to consume more during extended periods of wakefulness without increased physical activity.
"Our findings show that shortened sleep is associated with an increase in calorie intake, a very small increase in weight, and a significant increase in fat accumulation inside the belly, even in young, healthy, and relatively lean subjects," says Virend Somers, M.D., Ph.D., the Alice Sheets Marriott Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and the study's principal investigator.
"Normally, fat is deposited subcutaneously or beneath the skin. Inadequate sleep, on the other hand, tends to reroute fat to the more harmful visceral compartment. Importantly, despite a decrease in calorie intake and weight during recovery sleep, visceral fat increased. This shows that insufficient sleep is a hitherto unknown trigger for visceral fat deposition, and that catching up on sleep, at least in the near term, does not cure visceral fat accumulation. These findings, in the long run, imply insufficient sleep as a contributor to the obesity, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease epidemics "Dr. Somers explains.
12 healthy persons who were not fat made up the research cohort, and each spent two 21-day stints in the inpatient environment. After a three-month washout period, participants were randomly allocated to the control (normal sleep) or restricted sleep groups for one session and the reverse during the next. Throughout the trial, each group had free access to a variety of foods. Researchers tracked and analyzed caloric intake, expenditure, body weight, body composition, fat distribution, including visceral fat (fat that lies beneath the skin), and circulating hunger indicators.
The first four days were used to acclimate. All participants were given nine hours in bed to sleep during this period. The limited sleep group was given four hours of sleep for the next two weeks, whereas the control group was given nine hours. Both groups then had three days and nights of rehabilitation, including nine hours in bed.
When compared to the acclimation stage, the subjects consumed about 300 additional calories per day under sleep restriction, eating over 13% more protein and 17% more fat. The increase in consumption peaked in the early days of sleep deprivation and subsequently dropped off over the recovery phase to baseline values. Throughout, the amount of energy expended remained rather constant.
"The visceral fat buildup was only found by CT scan and would have otherwise gone undetected, especially because the weight gain was relatively small — only about a pound," Dr. Covassin explains. "Weight measurements alone would be erroneously encouraging in terms of the health repercussions of insufficient sleep. The possible impact of repeated periods of insufficient sleep on progressive and cumulative increases in visceral fat over several years are another cause for worry."
People who cannot readily prevent sleep disturbance, such as shift workers, should seek behavioral therapies such as increased exercise and healthier eating choices, according to Dr. Somers. More research is needed to see how these findings in healthy young individuals relate to others who are at higher risk, such as those who are obese or have metabolic syndrome or diabetes.
A randomized controlled crossover study conducted by Naima Covassin, Ph.D., a cardiovascular medicine researcher at Mayo Clinic, found that not getting enough sleep resulted in a 9% increase in total abdominal fat area and an 11% increase in abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is a kind of fat that forms deep within the belly surrounding internal organs and is associated with cardiac and metabolic problems.
The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and its findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Sleep deprivation is frequently a behavior choice, and it has grown increasingly common. More than one-third of individuals in the United States do not get enough sleep on a regular basis, owing in part to shift work and the use of smart gadgets and social networks during traditional sleep periods. Furthermore, people tend to consume more during extended periods of wakefulness without increased physical activity.
"Our findings show that shortened sleep is associated with an increase in calorie intake, a very small increase in weight, and a significant increase in fat accumulation inside the belly, even in young, healthy, and relatively lean subjects," says Virend Somers, M.D., Ph.D., the Alice Sheets Marriott Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and the study's principal investigator.
"Normally, fat is deposited subcutaneously or beneath the skin. Inadequate sleep, on the other hand, tends to reroute fat to the more harmful visceral compartment. Importantly, despite a decrease in calorie intake and weight during recovery sleep, visceral fat increased. This shows that insufficient sleep is a hitherto unknown trigger for visceral fat deposition, and that catching up on sleep, at least in the near term, does not cure visceral fat accumulation. These findings, in the long run, imply insufficient sleep as a contributor to the obesity, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease epidemics "Dr. Somers explains.
12 healthy persons who were not fat made up the research cohort, and each spent two 21-day stints in the inpatient environment. After a three-month washout period, participants were randomly allocated to the control (normal sleep) or restricted sleep groups for one session and the reverse during the next. Throughout the trial, each group had free access to a variety of foods. Researchers tracked and analyzed caloric intake, expenditure, body weight, body composition, fat distribution, including visceral fat (fat that lies beneath the skin), and circulating hunger indicators.
12 healthy persons who were not fat made up the research cohort, and each spent two 21-day stints in the inpatient environment. After a three-month washout period, participants were randomly allocated to the control (normal sleep) or restricted sleep groups for one session and the reverse during the next. Throughout the trial, each group had free access to a variety of foods. Researchers tracked and analyzed caloric intake, expenditure, body weight, body composition, fat distribution, including visceral fat (fat that lies beneath the skin), and circulating hunger indicators.
The first four days were used to acclimate. All participants were given nine hours in bed to sleep during this period. The limited sleep group was given four hours of sleep for the next two weeks, whereas the control group was given nine hours. Both groups then had three days and nights of rehabilitation, including nine hours in bed.
When compared to the acclimation stage, the subjects consumed about 300 additional calories per day under sleep restriction, eating over 13% more protein and 17% more fat. The increase in consumption peaked in the early days of sleep deprivation and subsequently dropped off over the recovery phase to baseline values. Throughout, the amount of energy expended remained rather constant.
"The visceral fat buildup was only found by CT scan and would have otherwise gone undetected, especially because the weight gain was relatively small — only about a pound," Dr. Covassin explains. "Weight measurements alone would be erroneously encouraging in terms of the health repercussions of insufficient sleep. The possible impact of repeated periods of insufficient sleep on progressive and cumulative increases in visceral fat over several years are another cause for worry."
People who cannot readily prevent sleep disturbance, such as shift workers, should seek behavioral therapies such as increased exercise and healthier eating choices, according to Dr. Somers. More research is needed to see how these findings in healthy young individuals relate to others who are at higher risk, such as those who are obese or have metabolic syndrome or diabetes.
"The visceral fat buildup was only found by CT scan and would have otherwise gone undetected, especially because the weight gain was relatively small — only about a pound," Dr. Covassin explains. "Weight measurements alone would be erroneously encouraging in terms of the health repercussions of insufficient sleep. The possible impact of repeated periods of insufficient sleep on progressive and cumulative increases in visceral fat over several years are another cause for worry."
People who cannot readily prevent sleep disturbance, such as shift workers, should seek behavioral therapies such as increased exercise and healthier eating choices, according to Dr. Somers. More research is needed to see how these findings in healthy young individuals relate to others who are at higher risk, such as those who are obese or have metabolic syndrome or diabetes.
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