The (Un)Lucky Snorers Burn More Calories

If you knew that snoring allows you to burn hundreds of more calories a night than a non-snorer, would you like to find a way to pick up the habit?

I thought so. Well, my guess is some of you who feel desperate to lose weight (especially this time of year) would do just about anything.

The news just came out about a new study where researchers found that those who had the most fitful sleep characterized by snoring burned around 2,000 calories a day while resting as opposed to the 1,600 burned by sound sleepers. How is this possible? One of the reasons given is that the snoring and/or snoring-related problems may cause changes in the nervous system, thus requiring the body to use up more energy. I'll add that these numbers should be taken lightly. Everyone's metabolism and energy needs are different; the more important conclusion here is the fact snoring seems to up caloric expenditure.

Not that all this is a good thing. (And who really wants to snore or sleep with a snorer?)

Snoring can be a sign of a more serious problem, such as sleep apnea. This disorder can cause a person to temporarily stop breathing while at rest, and has been linked to cardiovascular problems and high blood pressure. I've long been an advocate for sleep as a method of weight loss and weight maintenance (of course in combination with other healthy lifestyle factors), but not because you're likely to burn more calories in episodic snoring sessions throughout the night. Sound sleep allows the body to regulate its appetite, hunger, and general metabolic hormones better. The only silver lining I can find in this study is the fact many snorers are, in fact, overweight or obese, so burning a few extra calories might help them take the weight off...and kick the habit for good.

But no one is going to get fit and trim from snoring alone, so don't let the headlines fool you.

That said, there was another headline this week that caught my attention and that I think is more appropriate. Kevin Braun wrote an article for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the perfect gift: sleep. Mr. Braun had a sleep study performed on him a year and a half ago at the urging of his (sleep-deprived) wife. He learned he had sleep apnea, and treated his problem with a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine, which pushes air through his airway passage at a pressure set to prevent apnea. He calls it the gift that keeps on giving...good night sleeps.

Bottom line: if you're a snorer or know someone who is, don't rejoice. Ask for or give the perfect gift by seeking help in understanding the root cause of your snoring. Then you'll really have reason to rejoice.

This sleep article is also available at Dr. Breus' official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Sleep Your Way to Weight Loss
• Obesity Ups Odds of Short Sleep
• Does Snoring Have You Up All Night?

Sleepless Kids Become Fat Adults

I feel like I've written about this topic numerous times before, but the studies just keeping coming and coming and coming... and a new one just confirmed what we've already had a clue about: the more sleep-deprived you are, the greater your risk is for being overweight and obese.

And this is true for both adults and kids. This is believed to be due to the fact proper sleep makes for a proper balance of hormones related to appetite, hunger, metabolism, and even fat retention.

But what this most recent study, which was just reported this week, actually reveals that we haven't learned before is this: a child's risk of being fat in adulthood increases due to poor sleep habits as a kid.

That's right: how well your kids sleep will have long-term effects on them. The relationship between sleep and obesity risk is much more intricate and "time-consuming" than previously thought. To think that a kid's sleep habits relate to his or her chances of being an obese adult is pretty astonishing. It's contrary to conventional wisdom to think that inadequate sleep in childhood has long-lasting consequences

Let me spell out the good news: if you can help your child get a good night's rest, you can help your kid avoid being overweight or worse, obese later in life. I think it's much easier to force a kid to bed earlier than to force him or her to stop eating junk food on a consistent basis. Not that parents shouldn't also help their kids learn to eat well for life, but you know what I mean.

Kids need more sleep than adults do. Those between the ages of 5 and 12 should bank about 11-12 hours each night, while teenagers should get 9 to 10 hours.

How many hours are yours getting? Do you even know?

Things that could be keeping your kids up at night:

• Too much electronic media like cell phones, computers, and video games. Is there a media curfew in the household?


• Not enough physical activity during the day to make them sleepy at night. Do they engage in enough physical activity during the day--at least 30 minutes of cardio?


• Poor time management as our kids find themselves up late finishing homework. Are they overwhelmed with things to do but not enough time to do it all? (Sounds like an adult problem, but our kids can suffer the same when they really shouldn't have to... yet.)


• A natural inclination to go to bed late and get up late due to their young biological rhythms. The problem is they can't sleep in every day due to school obligations so they are forced to cut their sleep short.

No parent wants his or her kid to grow up fat or obese, so I think it is good to know we can help prevent that from happening just by focusing on instilling habits of good sleep hygiene into our kids. It will reinforce good habits in our own lives, too. One would hope...

This article on sleep is also available on Dr. Breus' official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Related Topics:

• 7 Ways to Combat Kids' Sleep Problems
• WebMD Video: Identifying Sleep Disorders in Kids