Research
Energy balance
Transitioning from insufficient sleep (5 hours) to adequate sleep (9 hours) reduces energy intake, specifically fats and carbohydrates, and leads to slight weight loss, demonstrating that recovery sleep can reverse the positive energy balance caused by sleep restriction.
If you have been sleeping poorly, switching back to 7-9 hours of sleep will help you eat less, particularly fats and carbs, and may help you lose the weight gained during the sleep-deprived period. Consistency is key.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
transitioning from an insufficient to adequate/recovery sleep schedule decreased energy intake, especially of fats and carbohydrates, and led to −0.03 ± 0.50 kg weight loss.
Why this rating
Same high-quality controlled crossover design.
Source
Impact of insufficient sleep on total daily energy expenditure, food intake, and weight gain
Rachel R. Markwald et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2013
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1216951110
crossover · n=16Cited 801×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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