Late nights and reduced sleep could be getting you fatter – but researchers suggest it may work the other way around

Poor sleep

The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine observed that poor sleep quality is linked to an increased risk of obesity by deregulating appetite, which in turn leads to more calorie consumption. But their study found that it’s not the sleep loss that leads to obesity, but rather that excess weight can cause poor sleep.

‘We think that sleep is a function of the body trying to conserve energy in a setting where energetic levels are going down,’ says study co-author David Raizen, MD, PhD ‘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.’ Keep that home workout on point.