A recent study found that the best way to cut down on calorie intake is to simply get more sleep. After asking test subjects, who ate over the course of 14 hours each day, to cut their grazing times to no more than 11 hours a day, and to sleep more of the time, scientists found that the subjects lost an average of 3.5 percent of their excess body weight — just by going to bed earlier.
Here are five interesting, science-backed suggestions on how to lose weight while you sleep:
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- Eat foods with tryptophan
Tryptophan, an amino acid found in most meats, including turkey and lamb, has demonstrated powerful sleep-inducing effects. A recent study among insomniacs found that just ¼ gram—about what you’ll find in a skinless chicken drumstick or three ounces of lean turkey meat—was enough to significantly increase hours of deep sleep. And that can translate into easy weight loss.
- Eat whole grains for lunch
Serotonin converts to melatonin in your stage 3 REM sleep, and serotonin is sourced from whole-grain complex carbohydrates. You don’t need to have carbs before bed to sleep, just have them at some point through the day.
- Have a shake before bed
Having a protein shake before hitting the sack may boost your metabolism, according to one Florida State University study. Researchers found that men who consumed an evening snack that included 30 grams of protein had a higher resting metabolic rate the next morning than when eating nothing. Protein is more thermogenic than carbs or fat, meaning your body burns more calories digesting it.
- Sleep in the cold
A striking new study published in the journal Diabetes suggests that simply blasting the air conditioner or turning down the heat in winter may help us attack belly fat while we sleep. Colder temperatures subtly enhance the effectiveness of our stores of brown fat—fat keeps you warm by helping you burn through the fat stored in your belly. Participants spent a few weeks sleeping in bedrooms with varying temperatures: a neutral 75 degrees, a cool 66 degrees, and a balmy 81 degrees. After four weeks of sleeping at 66 degrees, the subjects had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat. (And yes, that means they lost belly fat.)
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- Keep it dark
Exposure to light at night doesn’t just interrupt your chances of a great night’s sleep, it may also result in weight gain according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Study subjects who slept in the darkest rooms were 21 percent less likely to be obese than those sleeping in the lightest rooms.
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Also, light-blocking curtains make a huge difference when it comes to falling asleep. Outside light makes it harder for your mind to shut down, even if you think you’re immune to such instinctive signals. Melatonin, the hormone involved in putting your body to sleep, is compromised when light is present.
Curated article from Yahoo
