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DENVER — Sleeping less leads to more eating and more weight gain, according to a new study out of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Researchers say getting less than nine hours of sleep a night can lead to  weight gain and even diabetes.  It can also cause higher levels of the hormone that drives your appetite.

Dr. Kenneth Wright lead the CU study that shows sleeping only five hours a night can cause you to pick up weight.

Wright said the later you stay up, the more likely you are to add calories at the worst time of the day — right before bed.

“The amount of calories we consume when we’re awake exceed the needs of our body,” Wright said. “If you’re up at 2 a.m. you’re probably snacking and your snacking choices are probably less healthy.”

Alcohol just before bed can also lead to weight gain.

Dr. Lisa Meltzer of National Jewish Health said a couple of glasses of wine before bed may seem to relax you, but there’s a downside.

“The problem is alcohol affects the staging of your sleep, the depth of sleep you get, so in turn you will get a poor quality of sleep,” Meltzer said.

Denver resident Carolyn Ryder lost 91 pounds in less than a year.  She says getting enough sleep did the trick, by erasing the exhaustion that kept her out of the gym.

Ryder says when she only got a few hours of sleep a night, her appetite would spiral out of control.

“I was waking up in the morning thinking Ii can’t do a single thing until i eat because I’m so hungry,” Ryder said.

“I don’t think extra sleep by itself is going to lead to weight loss,” Wright said. “Problems with weight gain and obesity are much more complex than that. But I think it could help. If we can incorporate healthy sleep into weight-loss and weight-maintenance programs, our findings suggest that it may assist people to obtain a healthier weight.”  But further research is needed to test that hypothesis, Wright added.

For the study, researchers monitored 16 young, lean, healthy adults who lived for about two weeks at the University of Colorado Hospital, which is equipped with a “sleep suite” for controlling sleep opportunities.

All participants spent the first three days able to sleep nine hours a night and eating meals with controlled portions.

After the first few days, the participants were split into two groups: one that spent five days with only five hours to sleep in and one that spent five days with nine hours of sleep opportunity. In both groups, participants were offered larger meals and had access to snack options throughout the day ranging from fruit and yogurt to ice cream and potato chips. After the five-day period, the groups switched.

On average, the participants who slept for up to five hours a night burned 5 percent more energy than those who slept up to nine hours a night, but they consumed 6 percent more calories.

Those getting less sleep also tended to eat smaller breakfasts but binge on after-dinner snacks. In fact, the total amount of calories consumed in evening snacks was larger than the calories that made up any individual meal.

“When people are sleep-restricted, our findings show they eat during their biological nighttime when internal physiology is not designed to be taking in food,” said Wright, who is already working on a new study to better determine the implications of when people are eating not just what they’re eating.