A new study finds that getting less than eight hours of sleep per night can lead to an overall increase of about 12 grams in visceral fat.
Loading…
Sleep has an impact on weight and overall health. New research, published in March in Sleep Medicineassessed the link between sleep deprivation and accumulated belly fat.
The authors studied data from more than 5,100 adults, ages 18 to 59, who responded to a major American investigation on health and nutrition between 2011 and 2012 and from 2013 to 2014. Questions about how long they slept were included in the survey revealing that the volunteers generally slept about 7 hours per night. Tests were also conducted to measure visceral fat volunteers.
The researchers thus realized that sleeping less than eight hours every night could lead a raise total of approximately 12 grammes visceral fat mass. On the other hand, beyond eight hours, there was no longer any link between sleep and fat accumulation.
“Sleep duration is negatively associated with visceral fat accumulation in adulthood with perhaps no benefit beyond eight hours of sleep per day”the team of scientists wrote in their report, adding that further studies are needed to confirm their findings.
Loading…
For years, health professionals and authorities have been warning about the dangers of the accumulation of visceral fat, caused by environmental factors, stress and/or an unhealthy lifestyle (diet, sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption). When present in too large quantities, it can, for example, lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke or Alzheimer’s disease.
You may also be interested :
⋙ How to have a restful sleep?
⋙ Sleep: 5 tips that can save up to 5 years of life expectancy
⋙ Pokemon Sleep: this new video game encourages players to…sleep!