Move over, eight hours of sleep, it’s now eight hours and 90 minutes.

Yeah, yeah, that takes you to around nine and a half hours of dossing every night, but if you want to lose weight, that’s what you should be doing.

Apparently.

This information is according to scientists from King’s College London, who discovered that “people who sleep for longer are less likely to pick sugary treats, or reach for comforting carbohydrates,” reports The Telegraph:

Lack of sleep was already known to be a risk factor for obesity because it alters levels of hormones which control appetite.

But a new study showed that by getting more sleep, people naturally choose healthier foods within a week, eating on average 10 grams less sugar each day.

The trial consisted of 21 volunteers who “slept for less than the recommended seven hours a night, were sent to counselling to learn how to change their habits so that they could sleep for longer”:

They were asked to keep a constant bedtime, resist caffeine and food before bed and try and relax in the evenings. On average the groups were able to add 90 minutes to their daily sleep patterns over the seven day study period.

Food diaries kept throughout the trial showed that by the end of the week, they were naturally eating less sugar and carbs than at the start. In contrast, no change was see in a control group whose sleep did not improve.

Pretty impressive, hey?

Principal investigator, Dr Wendy Hall, of the Department of Nutritional Sciences put it down to this:

“The fact that extending sleep led to a reduction in intake of free sugars, by which we mean the sugars that are added to foods by manufacturers or in cooking at home as well as sugars in honey, syrups and fruit juice, suggests that a simple change in lifestyle may really help people to consume healthier diets.”

Well I’m about ready for a nap.

However, it might not be as easy as it sounds.

If you already struggle to get a decent amount of sleep and have tried every trick in the book, you might need to get the assistance of a sleep professional to help you out.

Contact Sleep Renewal for a consultation and you never know, this really could be the year of a new you.

[source:telegraph]