Overweight People Who Begin To Shed Pounds Will Also Improve Sleep Patterns

No matter what a person weighs, any weight loss due to dietary changes will lessen sleepiness, lack of energy, and poor sleep quality, a U.S. study in mice has found. Half the diet-induced obese mice were randomly chosen to receive their regular food, while the rest ate food more than three times higher in fat content for eight weeks. At nine weeks the mice on the fatty diet were heavier, slept more than one hour longer each day, and tended to nap more frequently. Mice on the regular diet had completely different sleep/wake profiles. The findings suggest the possibility that overweight people who often feel tired may not need to lose all the excess weight to improve sleep. Just beginning to lose weight may improve “sleep abnormalities and wake impairments."