Research shows better quality sleep leads to more weight loss.

We are all looking for a way to improve our weight loss success. The problem is that it is not as easy as making a small change in our lives. We know that sleep is associated with weight gain and sleep is consistently being associated with an increased obesity risk is research. The good news is that it could be as easy as improving the quality of sleep.

We all enjoy sleeping and it should eb easy to use it for weight loss. The problem is that minimal research has examined its relationship with attempted weight loss. Most of the available evidence has focused on sleep duration, which fails to recognize the multidimensional nature of sleep and increased sleep can also be associated with increased weight.

The good news is that new research looked at the question of sleep quality and weight​[1]​. The goal was to examine the relationship between a composite measure of sleep health or quality and weight change in a sample of adults who participated in a 12-month behavioral weight loss intervention. The study examined the sleep of 125 adults with overweight or obesity that enrolled in a 12-week weight-loss study entitled the EMPOWER study.

All individuals participated in a 12-month behavioral weight loss intervention, with assessments at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Six dimensions of sleep were included in our operationalization of sleep health: regularity, satisfaction, alertness, timing, efficiency, and duration. Sleep dimensions were assessed using validated questionnaires and actigraphy. The data was used to calculate a composite sleep health score.

The mean sleep health was 4.5 at baseline and 4.5 at 6 months. The study found no change in the quality fo sleep, but those with greater sleep health has a greater weight loss with about 3 pounds of additional weight loss. Sleep duration was not necessarily associated with improved weight loss. Only regularity and satisfaction showed a tie to the improved weight change. It appears that the quality was tied to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and when OSA was accounted for, the improvement disappeared

The bottom line: Better sleep health or quality is associated with greater weight loss, but this association did not persist after accounting for OSA severity. It appears that sleep duration is tied to improved weight loss but regular, satisfying sleep does. Because OSA negatively impacts sleep health, future research should address whether improving sleep health, OSA, and/or the combination leads to better weight loss.