When aiming to lose weight, please start by asking yourself: “Am I getting enough sleep every day?” A joint research effort conducted by the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals that individuals obtaining increased sleep demonstrate a reduced overall calorie consumption.

Chicago, IL (Merxwire) – People are preparing to celebrate Christmas, coming together for festive gatherings and indulging in feasts to welcome the arrival of 2024, leading to many individuals unintentionally gaining weight. According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, increasing sleep time can help reduce calorie intake, with people who slept longer than they previously slept reducing their daily calorie intake by an average of nearly 300 calories.

The study involved 80 subjects, aged 21 to 40, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) in the overweight range of 25 to 29.9, and who habitually slept less than 6.5 hours. The researchers randomly divided the subjects into two groups; one group maintained the original sleep, while the other group increased sleep time to 8.5 hours for two weeks to form a habit.

All participants were asked to continue their daily activities without any prescribed diet or physical activity in the study. The study found that compared to the control group, subjects who slept 8.5 hours a night reduced their caloric intake by an average of 270 calories per day, and some subjects unknowingly reduced their intake by 500 calories. According to the researchers, this figure translates into a loss of 11.8kg in 3 years.

The findings suggest that improving and maintaining a healthy sleep schedule may be part of obesity prevention and weight loss program. The researchers say this is a major finding of losing or maintaining weight. When people don’t get enough sleep, the brain increases the body’s cravings for carbohydrates, junk food, or overall food intake.

Besides getting enough sleep, what else can people do to lose weight? A study, “Bicycling to Work and Primordial Prevention of Cardiovascular Risk: A Cohort Study Among Swedish Men and Women,” was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, shows that cyclists can reduce the risk of obesity, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.

The study tracked 23,732 Swedish men and women with an average age of 43.5 years. These men and women underwent health checks from 1990 to 2011. The research team divided the subjects into bicycle commuting/non-bicycle commuting and calculated and compared their chances of obtaining obesity and hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.

The research team found that people who commute by bicycle have a lower chance of getting obesity and hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. This also verifies that more exercise is better for the body. If your work location is not far from home, you may also try to commute by bicycle to get your body moving and reduce the chance of obesity and related diseases.