Dim The Lights?

We all understand that obesity is the result of many factors, with the best known factors being a lack of physical activity and the consumption of too much food.  However, other factors are known to have additional effects on a person's risk for becoming obese.  While some of these factors appear to be genetic, others appear to be environmental.  For example, a lack of adequate amounts of sleep has been linked to one's risk for obesity and can impact dieting success.  A potentially related nighttime phenomenon, "light at night", has recently been suggested to impact body weight.

A new obesity research study examined the potential relationship between nighttime light exposure (or "light at night") and body mass in male mice.  The obesity researchers housed mice under different lighting conditions (standard light/dark cycle, dim light, or bright light) over the 8-week study period and measured changes in body weight, food intake, physical activity, and metabolism.  The study investigators reported:

• Mice housed in bright light and dim light showed an increase in body weight as early as the first week of the study compared to mice housed in a normal light/dark cycle.
• The increase in body weight was at least partly due to an increase in fat mass in the mice exposed to light at night.
• Total daily physical activity and food intake was not different between mice housed in different lighting conditions; however, differences were noted in the timing of eating.
• Mice housed in dim light consumed about 55% of their food during the light phase, which is a shift in the normal eating habits of nocturnal mice.  The mice housed in normal light conditions consumed only about 36% of their food during the light phase.
• Limiting food consumption of mice housed in dim lighting conditions to only normal eating times prevented weight gain.

This is a fascinating study that suggests even low amounts of light at night, about equivalent to twilight with a clear sky, alters metabolism, alters the timing of regular food consumption, and promotes weight gain.  While these are interesting results, it will be more interesting to see if this holds true in human beings.  Our internal body clock helps to determine many of the schedules we keep including when we eat and when we sleep.  Because the hormone melatonin is closely involved in our internal clock and is affected by light exposure, changes in melatonin might be partly responsible for this disruption in normal metabolism and eating behaviors.  As a population, we are typically exposed to high amounts of light at night from computers, television, and other artificial sources of light.  While watching television and sitting in front of a computer can increase our chances of gaining weight due to a lack of physical activity, these results imply that exposure to their artificial light might negatively effect our dietary habits.  However, much more research will be needed to clarify this relationship as well as the level of impact it might have.

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Links Between Chronic Sleep Deprivation and Obesity

Sleep… we all want and enjoy a good night of sleep.  It makes us more alert and energetic throughout the day.  However, with the hectic schedules most of us keep, very few of us get enough sleep.
 

A new paper reviewed the scientific literature linking chronic sleep restriction (between 4 – 7 hours per night for a long duration of time) with obesity in more detail.  This new paper, which is free to download and read, looked at three distinct pathways by which sleep restriction might lead to obesity.  

Altered Neuroendocrine & Metabolic Functions

Several research studies have reported changes in neuroendocrine and metabolic hormones as a result of sleep restriction.  In one study, it has been reported that sleeping only 4 hours per night for 6 consecutive nights causes an increase in evening cortisol levels, an increase in growth hormone levels, a reduction in thyroid stimulating hormone, and a reduction in leptin levels.  A shorter study showed an 18% reduction in leptin and a 28% increase in the hormone ghrelin.  This reduction in leptin and increase in ghrelin was associated with a 24% increase in hunger and a 23% increase in appetite.

Overall, these studies indicate that sleep restriction can alter metabolic hormone levels that results in changes in appetite and hunger, which can possibly lead to overeating and weight gain.

Altered Glucose Regulation

Research on glucose regulation and sleep deprivation has reported that six nights of sleep restriction can substantially reduce the effectiveness of glucose and reduce the body’s ability to use glucose.  Other studies have suggested that poor utilization of glucose can lead to increased hunger and increased food consumption and that lower blood glucose at the end of an oral glucose tolerance test lead to weight gain.

Therefore, it appears that long term sleep restriction might lead to changes in blood glucose levels and changes in the ability of our body to use glucose, changes that might lead to unwanted weight gain.

Altered Waking Behavior

According to this new review paper, long-term sleep restriction can lead to a variety of behaviors during the day that might lead to weight gain over time.  For example, one study reported that individuals subjected to 14 days of sleep restriction increased food intake, which happened mainly at night when they normally would have been asleep.  Additionally, a lack of sleep has been shown to result in increased consumption of high-energy drinks or snacks to boost energy and fatigue from the lack of sleep resulted in a reduction in physical activity.

In general, these studies suggest that sleep restriction can result in increased food intake, increased intake of high-calorie foods, and a reduction if exercise… all behaviors that can lead to increased weight gain.

Overall, this review suggest that not only does sleep restriction appear to increase obesity risk, it appears to do so through multiple pathways.  So in addition to following a healthy eating plan like my Slim and Beautiful diet plan, remember to get an adequate amount of sleep whenever possible.

Timing of Fat Consumption Influences Body Weight & Metabolism

Decades of research has made it clear that what we eat and how much we eat have major impacts on our body weight and health.  However, little research has been done to examine the timing of what we eat and its effects on body weight and health.

New research published just a couple of days ago explored this relationship in mice. For this study, mice were fed high-fat meals either at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day and changes in body weight and body metabolism were investigated.  The results showed that mice fed a high-fat meal in the morning maintained their body's ability to respond to a variety of dietary challenges later in the day such that they maintained a normal metabolic profile.  In contrast, mice fed a high-fat meal at the end of the day were more likely to gain weight and show signs of developing the metabolic imbalances.  According to a related news story, the study researchers indicated that eating a carbohydrate-rich breakfast turned on only metabolic processes that utilized carbohydrates, while consuming a high-fat breakfast turned on metabolic processes that utilized both fat and carbohydrates, providing the mice with greater flexibility to meet daily dietary challenges.  Additionally, this story points out that the researchers believed that one of the keys to the success of this study was eating a low-calorie meal in the evening after starting the day with a high-fat breakfast.

This is truly fascinating research that will need to be further explored.  While this study showed some interesting results about what we eat when and how it effects our body weight and metabolism, additional questions remain to be answered.  For example... are the benefits of a high-fat breakfast combined with a low-calorie dinner restricted to particular types of dietary fat?  Considering that some dietary fats are less healthy than others, this might be an important question to answer.  Also... will these results in mice translate to similar benefits in people?  Previous research has shown the importance of eating breakfast and some have suggested that high-protein breakfasts might reduce appetite throughout the day.  This new study adds to the current research and emphasizes both the importance of what we eat and when we eat it.

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