According to researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder, sleeping the weekend to catch up may not be as healthy as you think. (Photo: Getty Images)

Want to sleep in this weekend? A new study suggests that you could harm your health.

According to research from the University of Colorado at Boulder, people who used their weekends to catch up on their sleep were gaining weight and exhibiting a decrease in insulin sensitivity compared to those who normally slept. a good night.

Their study was published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

The study focused on 36 adults invited to stay in a research center for two weeks on the campus of the University of Colorado.

They were divided into three groups: one group allowed to sleep nine hours a night, a second group limited to five hours of sleep a night, and a third group five days of five hours of sleep followed by a "week" -end "where could sleep as long as they want. After the two days, they resumed their sleep schedule by five hours a night.

According to researchers, for a period of nine days, participants monitored sleep, exposure to light, and food consumption.

Groups with less sleep nibbled more at night, gained more weight and saw their insulin sensitivity decrease compared to the group taking nine hours a night, the study said. The group who had two days to catch up on his sleep noticed some small improvements that had been lost once he had found a shorter sleep schedule.

"In the end, we found no metabolic benefit in people who slept on weekends," said Chris Depner, professor-researcher in integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in a statement. .

In some cases, insulin sensitivity among group members with late-catch-up late in the week decreased more than that of those who regularly slept five hours a night, the study said.

Several studies have shown how important it is to sleep well to stay healthy. In January, a study from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology revealed that sleeping less than six hours a night could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults between the ages of 18 and 64 should sleep between seven and nine hours a night, while adults over the age of 65 should sleep between seven and eight hours a night.

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Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @ brettmolina23.

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