Weight Loss and Sleep, Current Evidence in Animal Models and Humans

Abstract

Sleep is a vital process essential for survival. The trend of reduction in the time dedicated to sleep has increased in industrialized countries, together with the dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Short sleep may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and on the other hand, obesity is associated with sleep disorders, such as obstructive apnea disease, insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep and metabolic disorders are linked; therefore, identifying the physiological and molecular pathways involved in sleep regulation and metabolic homeostasis can play a major role in ameliorating the metabolic health of the individual. Approaches aimed at reducing body weight could provide benefits for both cardiometabolic risk and sleep quality, which indirectly, in turn, may determine an amelioration of the cardiometabolic phenotype of individuals. We revised the literature on weight loss and sleep, focusing on the mechanisms and the molecules that may subtend this relationship in humans as in animal models.