People who have a lie-in are supposedly smarter and skinnier, research says.
What's a lie in we hear you say, moms!
It may be a concept long forgotten since the kids came along but if you can manage to grab a few extra hours in bed in the morning, it could make you smarter and slimmer.
A study published in the journal Sleep examined the sleeping habits and Body Mass Index of 2,156 adults aged 18 to 92.
It found that those who missed out on sleep during the week but made up for it at the weekend had a lower BMI than those who didn’t have a weekend lie-in.
On average, participants slept for 7.3 hours per night, according to Reuters Health.
Some 43% reported sleeping longer on weekends by approximately two hours. This group had an average BMI of 22.8.
Those who did not lie in had an average BMI of 23.1, a small but statistically significant difference.
Each additional hour of catch-up sleep was linked to a 0.12 decrease in BMI.
People who have a lie-in are supposedly smarter and skinnier
The researchers said: “Weekend sleep extension may have biological protective effects in preventing obesity.”
This makes sense since it's common to make bad food choices when you're feeling tired and drained.
And there’s more good news as apparently having a lie-in could also make you smarter.
Staying in bed a little bit longer can allow the brain to process information it previously couldn’t and retrieve information you couldn’t recall or were oblivious to while in a state of sleep-deprivation.
A lie-in also appears to be a better option than grabbing a nap later in the day as a nap doesn’t allow you to fall into a deep sleep, researchers say.
