New Research Highlights Link Between Sleep Loss and Obesity

(Newswire.net — December 27, 2022) Orlando, FL — Over the years, researchers have been investigating the factors influential to weight gain. These include lifestyle habits like sleep, which many people are having trouble maintaining an adequate level of.

A study has shown an association between sleep loss and obesity.  This new research involving worms had particularly suggested that energy conservation may actually be a major function of sleep. 

The findings of this study, which was carried out by the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Nevada, Reno, were published in PLOS Biology. 

In this research involving the microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), the investigators suggest that excess weight can lead to poor sleep. 

“We think that sleep is a function of the body trying to conserve energy in a setting where energy levels are going down. Our findings suggest that if you were to fast for a day, we would predict you might get sleepy because your energetic stores would be depleted,” said study co-author David Raizen, MD, Ph.D.

Raizen is an associate professor of Neurology and a member of the Chronobiology and Sleep Institute at Penn.

The researcher emphasized that while the results in worms may not directly translate to humans, C elegans are actually a good model for the study of mammalian slumber.  They have been found to only have 302 neurons, one of which is a sleep regulator. 

In humans, it has been found that acute sleep disruption can lead to heightened appetite and insulin resistance. Individuals who chronically get less than six hours of sleep every night are at an increased likelihood of being obese and diabetic. 

“We wanted to know, what is sleep actually doing? Short sleep and other chronic conditions, like diabetes, are linked, but it’s just an association. It’s not clear if short sleep is causing the propensity for obesity, or that the obesity, perhaps, causes the propensity for a short sleep,” said study co-author Alexander van der Linden, Ph.D., an associate professor of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

Today, more and more experts are strongly recommending some measures helpful in helping people manage a healthy weight. Warding off obesity or weight management has long been known to work wonders in preventing the onset of certain diseases.

There are remedies like Divine Bounty L-Carnitine found to be potentially helpful for individuals who want to shed extra pounds. L-Carnitine has been found to help the body burn extra fat and enhance energy levels. 

It is used widely to enhance exercise performance and adherence. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XF7K9MM).