Our sleep pattern greatly affects our health. For example, missing sleep has always been detrimental to our health. The long night on the couch, where our sweet tooth draws us towards our stash of sweets, isn’t exactly healthy either.
However, it has recently become apparent that it is not solely the late-night snacks, that are affecting our hips. Lack of sleep can alter our metabolism, in such a way the body store fat more easily. This is the conclusion of a resent study from Uppsala University in Sweden, which was published in the Journal Science Advances.
More important than one might think
Over the course of the experiment, 15 people had their blood, fat, and muscle tissue examined twice. The first examination was performed following a regular night of sleep, while the second examination was performed after a night of staying awake.
Three side effects of a lack of sleep were especially measurable:
- Fat tissue in the body had a higher capacity to retain fat, even grow.
- The body produced less quantities of structural proteins, necessary for maintaining and building muscle fibres.
- Increase inflammation in the body; increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Jonathan Cedernaes, one of the scientists behind the study, says that the results underline the irreplaceable function of sleep. “Sleep is not just to regain energy. It has many functions,” he says.
A vicious cycle
The experiment not only highlights the importance of sleep, it also builds on the conclusion of a study of 28 different studies performed in 2017 that people who worked nightshifts were 29 % more like to be obese; when compared to their colleges who rotated between day and night shifts.
The results of the Swedish experiment also underline risk of being drawn into a vicious cycle. Because, a lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity, and obesity increases the risk of sleep apnoea, which in turn causes interrupted sleep. Thereby, one can condition exacerbate the other.
A healthy diet and exercise could possibly combat the downward spiral, says Jonathan Cedernaes. However, there is still a need for further research in the area, before we can say for sure whether a lack of sleep continues to have the same effect on the body over a prolonged period of time.
