Study highlights that sleep at weekends does not make up for lost sleep

American scientists have discovered that the dream of recovery over the weekend could not pay off the dream debt of the day of the week and such an inconsistent timeline could make things worse.

The study, published in Thursday's issue of Current Biology, showed that sleep over the weekend can only help the body recover a little, but its effects do not last and even show worse results in some measures.

"Our findings suggest that the common behavior of burning the candle during the week and trying to compensate it over the weekend is not an effective health strategy," said lead author Kenneth Wright, director of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory . of the University. of Colorado Boulder.

The researchers recruited 36 healthy adults aged 18-39 to stay in the laboratory for two weeks. They were divided into three groups: those with plenty of time to sleep, those with only five hours a night and those with no more than five hours a night for five days, followed by a weekend where they could sleep as much as they wanted.

Both private sleep groups ate more at night, so they gained weight and decreased insulin sensitivity. The weekend recovery group had minor improvements over the weekend, but those benefits disappeared as the week's schedule resumed, according to the study.

When the weekend recovery group returned to having insufficient sleep, their circadian biological clock was timed later and they also ate more after dinner.

In addition, in the sleep-restricted group at all times, body-wide insulin sensitivity decreased by 13%, while in the weekend recovery group worsened by 9 to 27%, with a sensitivity in muscles and a score in the worse than the other groups. According to the study.

"It may be that yo-yoing from one side to another: changing the time we eat, changing our circadian clock and then going back to having insufficient sleep is exceptionally damaging," Wright said.

"This study demonstrates the importance of getting enough sleep at a regular schedule," said Michael Twery, director of the National Sleep Disorder Research Center.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends seven or more hours of sleep per night for adults.