Simple bedtime change may help some individuals lose weight, study finds
An NYU clinical trial found that moving bedtime just one hour earlier led to weight loss in prediabetes patients, even without longer sleep.
TL;DR
- Earlier bedtime was associated with greater weight loss in adults with prediabetes.
- Each hour earlier participants fell asleep correlated with roughly 1.3 pounds of weight loss over eight weeks.
- The study involved 196 adults with prediabetes who routinely slept less than 6.5 hours nightly.
- Participants received either lifestyle education or lifestyle education plus behavioral coaching to encourage earlier bedtimes.
- Neither group showed significant blood sugar improvements, but both lost weight.
- Participants who shifted their sleep earlier tended to lose more weight, regardless of the coaching intervention.
- Internal body clock mechanisms and reduced late-night artificial light exposure may explain the findings.
- The trial duration was eight weeks, making long-term effects unclear.
- The study found an association, not a proven cause-and-effect relationship.