At a Glance In a randomized clinical trial, overweight adults who increased how much they slept took in fewer calories. The results suggest that improving sleep duration can help boost the success of weight-loss interventions Adequate sleep may help people reduce their calorie intake JuleDesign / Shutterstock Sleep is as important for good health as diet and exercise. Guidelines recommend that adults get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night. Children and teens need even more. But sleep deprivation, whether temporary or chronic, is common in the U.S. About a third of American adults report not getting enough sleep. Not getting enough quality sleep raises the risk of many diseases and disorders. And a chronic lack of sleep has been identified as a risk factor for obesity. Laboratory studies have shown that sleep restriction stimulates appetite and increases cravings for high-calorie food. However, the reverse—whether increasing the amount of sleep people get in their daily lives can h

Health How Sleep Works Leer en español Sleep is a period of rest that alternates with wakefulness. You have internal body clocks that control when you are awake and when your body is ready for sleep. These clocks have cycles of approximately 24 hours. The clocks are regulated by multiple factors, including light, darkness, and sleep schedules. Once asleep, you cycle through the stages of sleep throughout the night in a predictable pattern. Sleep is important because it affects many of your body’s systems. Not getting enough sleep or enough quality sleep raises your risk for heart and respiratory problems and affects your metabol