Research
Energy balance
In rodents, chronic total sleep deprivation leads to weight loss and negative energy balance due to increased sympathetic tone and brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, whereas in humans, chronic partial sleep restriction leads to weight gain and positive energy balance due to increased appetite.
Do not use sleep deprivation as a weight loss strategy. Unlike rodents, humans gain weight when sleep-deprived because the increase in hunger hormones (ghrelin) and caloric intake outweighs any metabolic changes.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
The major difference between human and animal studies is that short sleep time in humans is associated with increased BMI, whereas chronic total sleep deprivation in animals usually leads to decreased body weight... In rodents, brown adipose tissue (BAT) contributes to heat loss through non-shivering thermogenesis... BAT is not present in adult humans.
Why this rating
Based on direct comparison of human and animal study results described in the text.
Source
Sleep and circadian rhythms: Key components in the regulation of energy metabolism
Aaron D. Laposky et al. · FEBS Letters · 2007
DOI 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.06.079
narrative_reviewCited 348×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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