Lack of sleep increases unhealthy abdominal fat, study finds

Date:
March 28, 2022
Source:
Mayo Clinic
Summary:
New research shows that lack of sufficient sleep combined with free
access to food increases calorie consumption and consequently fat
accumulation, especially unhealthy fat inside the belly.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New research from Mayo Clinic shows that lack of sufficient sleep combined
with free access to food increases calorie consumption and consequently
fat accumulation, especially unhealthy fat inside the belly.


========================================================================== Findings from a randomized controlled crossover study led by Naima
Covassin, Ph.D., a cardiovascular medicine researcher at Mayo Clinic, show
that lack of sufficient sleep led to a 9% increase in total abdominal fat
area and an 11% increase in abdominal visceral fat, compared to control
sleep. Visceral fat is deposited deep inside the abdomen around internal
organs and is strongly linked to cardiac and metabolic diseases.

The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and the study was funded by the National Heart, Lung and
Blood Institute.

Lack of sufficient sleep is often a behavior choice, and this choice
has become increasingly pervasive. More than one-third of adults in the
U.S. routinely do not get enough sleep, in part due to shift work, and
smart devices and social networks being used during traditional sleep
times. Also, people tend to eat more during longer waking hours without increasing physical activity.

"Our findings show that shortened sleep, even in young, healthy and
relatively lean subjects, is associated with an increase in calorie
intake, a very small increase in weight, and a significant increase in
fat accumulation inside the belly," says Virend Somers, M.D., Ph.D.,
the Alice Sheets Marriott Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, and
principal investigator of the study.

"Normally, fat is preferentially deposited subcutaneously or under
the skin.

However, the inadequate sleep appears to redirect fat to the more
dangerous visceral compartment. Importantly, although during recovery
sleep there was a decrease in calorie intake and weight, visceral
fat continued to increase. This suggests that inadequate sleep is a
previously unrecognized trigger for visceral fat deposition, and that
catch-up sleep, at least in the short term, does not reverse the visceral
fat accumulation. In the long term, these findings implicate inadequate
sleep as a contributor to the epidemics of obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases," says Dr. Somers.

The study cohort consisted of 12 healthy people who were not obese, each spending two 21-day sessions in the inpatient setting. Participants were randomly assigned to the control (normal sleep) group or restricted sleep
group during one session and the opposite during the next session, after a three- month washout period. Each group had access to free choice of food throughout the study. Researchers monitored and measured energy intake;
energy expenditure; body weight; body composition; fat distribution,
including visceral fat or fat inside the belly; and circulating appetite biomarkers.

The first four days were an acclimation period. During this time, all participants were allowed nine hours in bed to sleep. For the following
two weeks, the restricted sleep group was allowed four hours of sleep
and the control group maintained with nine hours. This was followed by
three days and nights of recovery with nine hours in bed for both groups.

The participants consumed more than 300 extra calories per day during
sleep restriction, eating approximately 13% more protein and 17% more
fat, compared to the acclimation stage. That increase in consumption was highest in the early days of sleep deprivation and then tapered off to
starting levels during the recovery period. Energy expenditure stayed
mostly the same throughout.

"The visceral fat accumulation was only detected by CT scan and would
otherwise have been missed, especially since the increase in weight
was quite modest - - only about a pound," Dr. Covassin says. "Measures
of weight alone would be falsely reassuring in terms of the health
consequences of inadequate sleep.

Also concerning are the potential effects of repeated periods of
inadequate sleep in terms of progressive and cumulative increases
in visceral fat over several years." Dr. Somers says behavioral
interventions, such as increased exercise and healthy food choices, need
to be considered for people who cannot easily avoid sleep disruption,
such as shift workers. More study is needed to determine how these
findings in healthy young people relate to people at higher risk, such
as those who are already obese, or have metabolic syndrome or diabetes.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Mayo_Clinic. Original written by
Terri Malloy. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Naima Covassin, Prachi Singh, Shelly K. McCrady-Spitzer, Erik K. St
Louis, Andrew D. Calvin, James A. Levine, Virend K. Somers. Effects
of Experimental Sleep Restriction on Energy Intake, Energy
Expenditure, and Visceral Obesity. Journal of the American College
of Cardiology, 2022; 79 (13): 1254 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.01.038 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220328165327.htm

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