The sleep diet: You snooze, you lose

February 10, 8:37 AMWeight Loss ExaminerGail Gedan Spencer

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The Sleep Diet, the story making its way around the talk shows this week, is really nothing new. Back in 2007, WebMD.com published a story, The Dream Diet, which outlined the results of two studies conducted at the University of Chicago in Illinois and at Stanford University in California. In the Stanford study, a joint project with the University of Wisconsin, the article says:

About 1,000 volunteers reported the number of hours they slept each night. Doctors then measured their levels of ghrelin and leptin, as well as charted their weight.

The result: Those who slept less than eight hours a night not only had lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, but they also had a higher level of body fat. What's more, that level of body fat seemed to correlate with their sleep patterns. Specifically, those who slept the fewest hours per night weighed the most.

Ghrelin, which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates appetite, while leptin, produced in fat cells, sends a signal to the brain when you are full.

So why's it back in the news now? Glamour magazine was intrigued by the news and wanted to see the results for themselves. In a 10-week study, Glamour had seven women do one simple thing: Get at least 7.5 hours of sleep a night, nothing else. At the end of the study, their test subjects had lost between 6 and 15 pounds. The story is in the March issue of Glamour, on newsstands now, or read it HERE. Or watch this interview from the Today show: