Sleepless nights can lead to weight gain

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Lack of sleep makes us heavier by adding dangerous invisible fat around organs, the scientists found.

And it affects everyone, regardless of age, health or size, the study says. Lack of sleep increased fat around the stomach because people ate more.

Dangerous visceral fat produces hormones and chemicals that damage organs and increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. More than a third of adults don't get enough sleep on a regular basis, in part because of shift work and late-night use of smart devices.

But making up for lost sleep hasn't gotten rid of accumulated unhealthy fat. Scientists found that people who slept about four hours a night were at risk of “significant gain” in body fat.

Reduced sleep time resulted in a 9% increase in abdominal fat area and an 11% increase in abdominal visceral fat. .

The study compared those who exercised at night for nine hours with those who exercised for only four hours. The second group consumed more than 300 extra calories per day, with about 17 percent more fat. The increase in consumption was highest in the early days of sleeplessness.

Dr. Virend Somers of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said:

“Shortened sleep, even in young, healthy, thin people, is associated with increased caloric intake, very little weight gain, and significant belly fat gain. Insufficient sleep apparently redirects fat to more dangerous visceral areas. These results indicate that insufficient sleep is the cause of epidemics of obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”